Last Updated on 4 years ago by Charbel Coorey
Cricket News: Which IPL franchises bought teams in South Africa’s T20 league? | IPL franchises buy all six teams in SA’s new T20 league
Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise owners are set to purchase all six teams in South Africa’s upcoming T20 league, ESPNCricinfo reports. Slated to commence from January 2023, Cricket South Africa (CSA) and their official television broadcaster SuperSport will be running the competition.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Mumbai Indians (MI), Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Rajasthan Royals (RR), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and one of the owners of Delhi Capitals (DC) have reportedly made successful bids for the franchises.
| IPL Team | Owner | CSA Franchise |
| CSK | CSK Sports Limited | Johannesburg |
| MI | Reliance Industries | Cape Town |
| SRH | Sun TV Group | Port Elizabeth |
| LSG | RP Sanjeev Goenka Group | Durban |
| RR | Emerging Media IPL Ltd* | Paarl |
| DC | Jindal South West Sports (co-owner) | Pretoria |
*To be confirmed.
CSA will be making the formal announcement of the teams and its owners upon the finalization of the required paperwork. Former skipper Graeme Smith has been tasked with heading the T20 league and his foremost responsibility currently is to bring about watertight deals with the franchise owners.
“I’m extremely honoured to be entrusted with leading this exciting new venture. I’m deeply committed to South African cricket and happy to serve the game as best I can,” Smith was quoted in a report by the aforementioned website.
He added, “I’m excited by the opportunity to deliver the new league, which I believe will be an extremely competitive product, one that can bring the much-needed investment into the game and provide new opportunities for players around the world and more importantly to our SA home grown talent.”
Smith assured that the stakeholders have given a positive response and that great progress has been made in the initial stages so far. He asserted upon their determination to give a valuable, appealing, and sustainable tournament for South African cricket.
IPL franchises continue to expand global footprint, but will the BCCI allow its players to play overseas?
IPL franchise owners have been gradually expanding their global footprint in recent times. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) owners Red Chillies Entertainment already owns the Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
They have acquired a team in the International League T20 (ILT20) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) too. In addition to that, the Knight Riders brand is amongst the founding members of the United States of America’s soon-to-be-launched franchise-based T20 league Major League Cricket.
The Reliance Strategic Business Ventures Ltd along with the GMR Group (co-owner of DC) have also purchased franchises in the ILT20 that will kick off from January 2023 onwards. St Lucia Kings and the Barbados Royals in the CPL were acquired by the owners of Punjab Kings (PBKS) and RR respectively as well.
However, apprehensions exist over the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) giving the green light to Indian players to participate in South Africa’s upcoming T20 league. So far, the BCCI has prohibited active India internationals from participating in such competitions in order to safeguard the brand of the IPL. Whether or not that policy alters with the growing presence of IPL franchises in other leagues remains to be seen.
