Here’s everything you need to know about South Africa’s new T20 franchise tournament

South Africa announced a new T20 franchise-based tournament on Friday. The board is planning to stage the inaugural edition in January next year. As many as six privately-owned teams will participate in the league. Much like the Indian T20 League, only four international players will feature in the playing XI. The rest of them will be South African cricketers.

As many as 33 matches will be played over three to four weeks. The teams will play each other in a double-round before the top three sides qualify for the playoffs. The dates, fixtures and other details are yet to be announced by the South African board.

After touring Australia at the end of this year, the board will host the inaugural edition of the T20 franchise tournament in the month of January 2023. The first month of the year is likely to become the window for the league.

“We are excited by the formation of something this fresh and invigorating, which also offers the opportunity for private investment into the franchises. CSA has already received interest from a number of potential local and international investors,” said CSA CEO Pholetsi Moseki.

The CEO is confident that the teams will be able to earn a significant amount of revenue from the team. Besides, the players are likely to fetch healthy salaries. A new company formed by CSA and broadcaster SuperSport will manage the tournament.

Meanwhile, numerous South African players are currently playing in the ongoing Indian T20 League. The likes of Quinton de Kock, Kagiso Rabada, Aiden Markram, etc are doing exceedingly well for their respective teams.

South Africa last played an ODI and Test series against Bangladesh. Bangladesh made heads turn after winning the first ODI of the three-match series. However, South Africa bounced back brilliantly to win the next two games and, thereby, win the series. Later, they beat Bangladesh in the Test series by a 2-0 margin.