Mzansi, it’s time to back your team! The Mzansi Super League
teams have been named, and some of the international stars such as Chris Gayle
and Dwayne Bravo will grace South Africa’s fields for next month’s new T20
tournament.
The Cape Town Blitz, Paarl Rocks, Nelson Mandela Bay Giants,
Durban Heat, Jozi Stars and Tshwane Spartans are the names of the six teams
that will participate in the MSL T20, starting on November 16.
West Indies duo Chris Gayle
and Dwayne Bravo lead the international line-up of stars that will take part in
the new event, which were unveiled on Monday, while the top Proteas have also
been spread around as the marquee players.
SA captain Faf du Plessis will be at Paarl Rocks, JP Duminy
at Cape Town Blitz, Imran Tahir at the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants, Hashim Amla
at Durban Heat, Kagiso Rabada at Jozi Stars and one AB de Villiers at the
Tshwane Spartans.
Among the other international players are England opener Jason Roy, Afghanistan spinner
Rashid Khan and England
batsmen Eoin Morgan and Dawid Malan.
“It was a thorough and well audited process that led to the
six winning bids from our Members, as well as the collective contribution from
all stakeholders involved that led to the final names and logos, which we also
had to make sure met our objectives for this event,” said Cricket South Africa chief executive Thabang Moroe.
“What was clear throughout this definitive process was that
these are completely new entities and names that will operate separately from
the current franchise teams. We welcome the six new additions to the South African and international cricket family.”
The venues were confirmed last week as Newlands in Cape Town, Boland
Park in Paarl, St
George’s Park in Port Elizabeth, Kingsmead in Durban,
Wanderers in Johannesburg and SuperSport Park
in Centurion.
Now the final piece of the Mzansi Super League jigsaw puzzle will be the player draft, which will take place in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
The order for the draft will be as follows: Durban Heat, Jozi Stars, Paarl Rocks, Cape Town Blitz, Tshwane Spartans and Nelson Mandela Bay Giants.
Proteas Marquee Players
Cape Town Blitz: JP Duminy, Paarl Rocks: Faf du Plessis, Nelson Mandela Bay Giants: Imran Tahir, Durban Heat: Hashim Amla, Jozi Stars: Kagiso Rabada, Tshwane Spartans: AB de Villiers
International Marquee Players
Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo (both West Indies), Eoin Morgan, Jason Roy, Dawid Malan (all England), Rashid Khan (Afghanistan).
T20 living legend Chris Gayle is in. Which #MSLT20 team do you think will scoop the master blaster? pic.twitter.com/dR75PTxLxQ
— Mzansi Super League (@MSL_T20) October 15, 2018@ashfakmohamed