Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has extended his Knight Riders brand by buying yet another T20 franchise, this time in South Africa’s upcoming T20 Global League. The actor, who already owns Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League and the Trinbago Knight Riders in the Caribbean Premier League, was unveiled as one of the eight owners of as many teams in London on Monday (June 19).
The franchisees have been bought by two South African businessman, two Indian Premier League franchises, two Pakistan Super League franchises, Hong Kong and Dubai-based businessmen.
#CSAnews #T20GL Meet the @T20GL_ Franchise Owners https://t.co/0W0OWnSd6s pic.twitter.com/6bSQeHakaN
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) June 19, 2017
Shah Rukh has purchased the Cape Town franchise while another outfit, GMR Sports – which owns the Delhi Daredevils, bought the Johannesburg-based franchise.
The marquee South African players, who were announced earlier this year in April, were assigned their respective teams for the first two seasons of the tournament. South Africa’s One-Day International skipper AB de Villiers will ply his trade for Pretoria, Test skipper Faf du Plessis went to Stellenbosch, while Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock were named the marquee players of Durban and Benoni respectively. Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth secured the services of David Miller and Imran Tahir respectively. Shah Rukh’s Cape Town franchise has snapped up JP Duminy as its marquee player while Johannesburg will have Kagiso Rabada.
As of now there is no confirmation yet on the availability of big players from other nations but Cricket South Africa president Chris Nenzani was hopeful the competition would receive support from the cricketing fraternity.
“We thank all other cricket boards and we hope that they will support this venture in the manner that we have helped and supported their leagues. We hope they will help us to make it a success,” he said.
“We are certain that our final eight owners have the perfect combination of strategic insight and passion needed to make the first T20 Global League a complete success,” he added.
The eight-team tournament is slated to start in early November and end on 16 December 2017. Before that, a player draft will take place on 19 August, with almost 400 players from 10 countries confirming their interest.
Here is the list Global T20 host cities, owners and the marquee players:
Owner | City | Marquee player |
Shah Rukh Khan | Cape Town | JP Duminy |
Javed Afridi | Benoni | Quinton de Kock |
Fawad Rana | Durban | Hashim Amla |
Osman Osman | Pretoria | AB de Villiers |
Mustag Brey | Stellenbosch | Faf du Plessis |
Sushil Kumar | Bloemfontein | David Miller |
Ajay Sethi | Port Elizabeth | Imran Tahir |
GMR Group | Johannesburg | Kagiso Rabada |