Inaugural season of SA20 league to kick start on January 10 next year

The first edition of the Cricket South Africa's SA20 will kick start on January 10, 2023. A total of six teams will participate in the tournament including - MI Cape Town, Durban Super Giants, Johannesburg Super Kings, Paarl Royals, Pretoria Capitals, and Sunrisers Eastern Cape. 

All these six teams have owned by the group that also owns franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL). All six squads have a total of 17 players - with a maximum of seven internationals. The auctions for the first edition were conducted recently with youngster Tristan Stubbs being the most expensive player after being bought for approximately US$ 520,000 by the Sunrisers franchise.

Johannesburg Super Kings will be captained by former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) opening batter Faf du Plessis, and their assistant coach will be another former CSK all-rounder Albie Morkel.  

"The player auction was a huge success for us as Jo'burg Super Kings and for the league itself.  There were a lot of quality local and international cricketers picked up and that will certainly produce competitive cricket from the teams …We have already started doing work behind the scenes and can't wait for the action to start come January 10th," said Morkel.

A total of 33 matches will be played in the tournament 

Former South Africa spinner and MI Cape Town general manager Robin Peterson said that the upcoming league will help the development of cricket in South Africa. "The SA20 is going to have a massive impact on South African cricket," he said according to ESPNCricinfo.

"It is going to revolutionize the game in our country and if used correctly and to its full potential, it will be an exciting competition. Being on the ground working at the domestic level, there is a certain level of excitement from cricketers that there is a league within our own country. There's knowing that if they showcase their skills, who knows where it may lead to, be it playing for the Proteas or getting deals around the world."

A total of 33 matches will be played in the competition with the first match to be played on January 10. All teams will play each other twice in the league stages, followed by two semi-finals and the final.