CSA T20 League: SRH names Port Elizabeth-based franchise as ‘Sunrisers Eastern Cape’

Sunrisers Hyderabad, who recently bought a team to play the South African T20 League, has now named their team Sunrisers Eastern Cape. The Sunrisers franchise took to Instagram to announce the name of the Port Elizabeth-based franchise. 

The team has already signed Aiden Markram ahead of the inaugural season. The 27-year-old was also a part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad squad in IPL 2022. The right-handed batter scored 381 runs from 14 matches but couldn’t help Hyderabad to qualify for the playoffs of the competition. Hyderabad finished eighth in the league with 12 points from 14 games.

Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Lucknow Super Giants, Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals also have their shares in different teams in the league. Even though the schedule is not yet announced, the Indian fans are already calling the tournament the mini version of the Indian Premier League.

Much like IPL, South Africa too will be able to create new talent with the CSA T20 League: Lance Klusener

Former South African International Lance Klusener believes that their country will benefit a lot by repeating the IPL model. The Indian Premier League has created a pool of talent in the Indian sub-continent, and it can do the same in South Africa. Klusener, who’s named as the head coach of the Durban franchise, feels that the tournament can help South Africa discover new talents.

“IPL has been a great environment as it has given the opportunity for younger players to rub shoulders with international players and coaches from across the world. Much like IPL that has discovered so many new talents — South Africa too will be able to create new talent with the CSA T20 League,” Klusener told Times of India.

South Africa are branding the league as the 2nd best T20 League in the world after multiple of their previous attempts failed in the past. With six IPL franchises on board, this is probably their last shot at success. They even scrapped the ODI series against Australia for players to be available for the tournament in the month of January.

Here’s the list of players signed by 6 franchises so far:

Chennai Super Kings (Johannesburg): Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Maheesh Theekshana, Romario Shepherd, Gerald Coetzee

Pretoria Capitals: Anrich Nortje, Migael Pretorius

MI Cape Town: Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran

Paarl Royals: Jos Buttler, David Miller, Obed McCoy, Corbin Bosch

Sunrisers Eastern Cape: Aiden Markram, Ottniel Baartman

Rising Pune Super Giants (Durban): Quinton de Kock, Jason Holder, Kyle Mayers, Reece Topley, Prenelan Subrayen