The six teams in Cricket South Africa's forthcoming new T20 league, whose debut is scheduled for January 2023, have all been purchased by IPL franchises.
Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Lucknow Super Giants, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rajasthan Royals, and one of Delhi Capitals' owners reportedly won the franchises up for auction during the team.
The parent business Chennai Super Kings Sports Limited, according to the ESPNcricinfo source, made the highest offer to purchase the Johannesburg franchise. Reliance Industries-owned Mumbai Indians purchased the Cape Town franchise, while Sunrisers-owned Sun TV Group purchased the Port Elizabeth franchise.
The Paarl squad was purchased by Rajasthan Royals, while the Durban club was acquired by the RP Sanjeev Goenka group, who late last year spent a record amount of Rs 7090 crore to purchase the Lucknow IPL franchise. Jindal South West Sports, led by Parth Jindal, a co-owner of the IPL's Delhi Capitals, has acquired Pretoria.
Cricket South Africa will oversee the league in collaboration with broadcasting network SuperSport. Once the paperwork is finished, the board will formally declare the new owners and the towns they will represent.
Notably, the Global League T20 and the Mzansi Super League failed for a variety of reasons, making this new event CSA's third effort to launch a franchise-based T20 league.
The CSA established the new T20 league as its "top priority," despite the fact that by forfeiting a three-match ODI series in Australia last week, South Africa put its direct qualification for the 2023 ODI World Cup at jeopardy.
The "long-term sustainability of the game" in South Africa was the reason behind the daring decision, according to the CSA. To make room for the T20 league, the board has decided that following the New Year's Test, no international cricket will be organised in South Africa.
Pholetsi Moseki, chief executive officer of the CSA, stated that the new league "promises to make a major investment into both professional cricket and growth in South Africa, along with a beneficial socio-economic and tourism injection into the country."