West Indies T20 sensation, Nicholas Pooran, was unveiled as the Durban's Super Giants wildcard pick ahead of the SA20 auction that took place in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
This will be Pooran's first time playing the tournament and he will represent the same owners he plays for in the Indian Premier League. The 27-year old delivered a recent reminder of his capabilities with a 51-ball hundred at the Caribbean Premier League where his team, Trinbago Knight Riders, was part of the final. He was the highest scorer in the inaugural Major League Cricket tournament in the USA earlier this year, a performance that helped the team he was captaining, MI New York, win the title. In all, Pooran has 5861 T20 runs at a strike rate of 144 across a career that spans 292 matches and 10 years.
It was a great day for fast-bowling allrounder Matthew Boast as well with Pretoria Capitals making him the joint-most expensive signing of the SA20 auction. The 20-year-old has 53 runs and nine wickets from six T20s so far and was part of the Under-19 team that South Africa sent to the World Cup in 2022.
Dayyaan Galiem was the other player to tempt such interest, going to Joburg Super Kings for R 1.6 million. The 26-year old has 437 runs and 25 wickets from 34 T20s. The Super Kings were on a spree, buying West Indies allrounder Romario Shepherd and Derbyshire batter Wayne Madsen for R 850,000 each. Former South Africa legspinner and CPL 2023-winning captain Imran Tahir was JSK's wildcard pick.
MI Cape Town have brought in Kieron Pollard to fill in for Rashid Khan and play the first three matches of the new season starting January 10.
Durban's Super Giants
Keshav Maharaj (capt), Quinton de Kock, Kyle Mayers, Naveen-ul-Haq, Reece Topley, Heinrich Klaasen, Dwaine Pretorius, Keemo Paul, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dilshan Madushanka, Kyle Abbott, Junior Dala, JJ Smuts, Prenelan Subrayen, Matthew Breetzke, Wiaan Mulder, *Nicholas Pooran, Jason Smith, Bryce Parsons (rookie)
Joburg Super Kings
Faf du Plessis, Gerald Coetzee, Moeen Ali, David Wiese, Zahir Khan, Sam Cook, Leus Du Plooy, Reeza Hendricks, Lizaad Williams, Nandre Burger, Donovan Ferreira, Aaron Phangiso, Bongumusa Makhanya, Kyle Simmonds, Wayne Madsen, Dayyaan Galiem, Romario Shepherd, Imran Tahir, Ronan Hermann (rookie)
MI Cape Town
Rashid Khan/Kieron Pollard, Kagiso Rabada, Rassie van der Dussen, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, Olly Stone, George Linde, Beuran Hendricks, Duan Jansen, Dewald Brevis, Ryan Rickleton, Grant Roelofsen, Delano Potgieter, Tom Banton, Christopher Benjamin, Nealan van Hearden, Thomas Kaber, Connor Esterhuizen (rookie)
Sunrisers Eastern Cape
Aiden Markram, Ottniel Baartman, Marco Jansen, Tristan Stubbs, Sisanda Magala, Adam Rossington, Brydon Carse, Sarel Erwee, Ayabulela Gqamane, Tom Abell, Jordan Hermann, Liam Dawson, Simon Harmer, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Temba Bavuma, Caleb Seleka, Beyers Swanepoel, Andile Simelane (rookie)
Pretoria Capitals
Will Jacks, Shane Dadswell, Rilee Rossouw, Colin Ingram, Theunis de Bruyn, James Neesham, Senuran Muthusamy, Corbin Bosch, Adil Rashid, Anrich Nortje, Eathan Bosch, Wayne Parnell, Migael Pretorius, Phil Salt, Paul Stirling, Kyle Verreynne, Matthew Boast, Daryn Dupavillon, Steve Stolk (rookie)
Paarl Royals
David Miller, Evan Jones, Jason Roy, Wihan Lubbe, Andile Phehlukwayo, Ferisco Adams, Mitchell van Buuren, Dane Vilas, Jos Buttler, Bjorn Fortuin, Codi Yusuf, Kwena Maphaka, Lungi Ngidi, Obed McCoy, Tabraiz Shamsi, Fabian Allen, John Turner, Lorcan Tucker, Lhuan-dre Pretorius (rookie)
*players in bold are new recruits.