Johannesburg, Sep 10 (IANS) A mega R116.9 million (approx. Rs 59 crore) was spent on South African players, which includes R22.8 million (approx. Rs11.4 crore) on 12 Under-23 players at the SA20 Season 4 Player Auction as Dewald Brevis and Aiden Markram shattered auction records, with the pair becoming the most expensive buys in the history of all auctions to date.

The South African top-order batters, who were the talk of the town before going under Richard Madley’s hammer, were in huge demand in Johannesburg, setting the entire cricket world abuzz during the tense bidding wars for the marquee sets.

The Pretoria Capitals, who had Indian legend and new coach Sourav Ganguly setting the bids for the Centurion franchise, won a bidding war with Joburg Super Kings to land Brevis for a whopping R16.5 million (approx. Rs 8.3 crore) to become the most expensive player bought in the SA20 auction history.

Pretoria Capitals Head Coach Sourav Ganguly shared his reactions on signing Brevis: “I hope he does well. I think he is a tremendous talent. His game has really progressed over the last one and a half year, as we saw against Australia. On that tour, he showed he is a game-changer, and that’s exactly what you need in T20 cricket.

“ We have Russell, Rutherford, who can really step it up, and I hope Brevis does the same. I never associate performance with money. Leaving aside the R 16.5 million, I believe he is a fantastic talent. He plays spin very well, which is extremely important, and taking everything into account, that’s why he went for that price.”

Brevis, 22, is homegrown in Pretoria and will return to Centurion after playing the past three seasons at MI Cape Town.

This was part of a hugely exciting Marquee Set 1 with Brevis’ purchase coming just 12 minutes after Aiden Markram was bought for R14 million (approx. Rs 7 crore).

Proteas T20I captain Markram will relocate to Kingsmead after Sunrisers Eastern Cape had done their level best to keep their former captain by utilising their Right to Match (RTM) card at the initial auction price of R12.4 million (approx. Rs 6.2 crore), before DSG raised their bid by a further R1.6 million (approx. Rs 80 lakhs).

“I’m always reluctant to talk about the numbers, but it is exciting to see the investment back into South African cricket,” SA20 League Commissioner said after the auction.

“This is an investment that was never there. The franchises have come and they’ve invested properly. You see they’re getting behind the South African players. I think it’s also credit to how the players have progressed over the last three or four years. I think there’s some proper talent. The platform that SA20 has provided has not only benefited them here (in South Africa), but benefited them in other leagues and internationally as well.

“I think credit to their performances. They’ve fetched the prices because they’ve performed well, and they’ve stood out.”

The previous SA20 auction record was held by Sunrisers Eastern Cape’s Tristan Stubbs’ R9.2 million (approx. Rs 4.6 crore) at the maiden auction in Cape Town back in 2022.

Joburg Super Kings went close to the mark with the acquisition of Proteas allrounder Wiaan Mulder for R9 million (approx. Rs 4.5 crore) along with left-arm seamer Nandre Burger for R6.3 million (approx. Rs 3.1 crore).

Overall, the six franchises spent R129.3 million (approx. Rs 65 crore) on 84 players giving them a chance to unleash their potential and make an impact on the upcoming Season 4.

Rising teenage paceman Kwena Maphaka will form part of the Durban’s Super Giants squad, after the left-arm seamer was purchased for R2.3 million (approx. Rs 1.1 crore), while promising youngsters Janco Smit, Bayanda Majola and JJ Bason were picked up by Joburg Super Kings, Pretoria Capitals and Paarl Royals, respectively, to mark their debut SA20 seasons.

“We have had an unprecedented investment in young players,” Smith said. “In the Under-23s, I think over R22 million was invested into young players in South African cricket, which is incredible.”

–IANS

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