Pretoria Capitals coach Sourav Ganguly confident ahead of SA20 auction

Ahead of the SA20 season five player auction on October 7, Pretoria Capitals head coach Sourav Ganguly expressed confidence in his team’s core composition, stating that it is in a strong position with five squad spots remaining to be filled.

A total of 156 players, including 95 South African cricketers and 61 overseas players, will be available at the auction for 19 remaining slots ahead of the milestone fifth season of the SA20. Originally, 789 players had registered for the auction, which has become a significant event in the South African sporting calendar.

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Ganguly, in a post on the Pretoria Capitals’ Instagram, said, “We were in the final last season, and we did not finish the job. This time, we have come back stronger. Phil Salt is back, and we have retained the players who delivered for us — Dewald Brevis, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi.”

He added, “Add the firepower of Andre Russell and Sherfane Rutherford, along with some very good domestic talent coming through, and the core is in a good place. There are five spots left, and we will go into the auction knowing exactly what we need.”

Pretoria Capitals reached the finals of the inaugural 2023 SA20 season and again in 2026, losing to Sunrisers Eastern Cape on both occasions. In the two intervening seasons, they finished fifth out of six teams and did not reach the playoffs.

The upcoming auction is smaller than last year’s, with most teams having retained their core squads. Durban’s Super Giants and Paarl Royals have already completed their 19-player rosters and will not participate in the auction. A maximum value of 2.11 million USD will be spent, with Joburg Super Kings and MI Cape Town needing to fill six slots each.

Among the high-profile South African players expected to attract interest are former Joburg Super Kings captain Faf du Plessis, all-rounder Wiaan Mulder, pacer Nandre Burger and experienced top-order batter Rassie van der Dussen. Du Plessis recently topped the run-scoring charts in Europe and remains eager to compete in franchise cricket.