The SA20 may avoid the word “mega” — a term synonymous with the IPL — but make no mistake, the season four auction is massive.
Nearly two-thirds of the player pool is up for grabs, with 84 of 114 total slots across six franchises open. Each team was allowed no more than six retentions or pre-signings and one wildcard signing, outside the R41 million (USD 2.31m) salary cap.
With the rookie draft scrapped, franchises must now ensure at least two U-23 players in their 19-member squads (maximum seven overseas players).
💰 Who holds the biggest purse?
- Pretoria Capitals – R32.5m (~USD 1.85m), 16 slots to fill, 2 RTM cards. New coach Sourav Ganguly leads them into the auction with only overseas stars (Will Jacks, Sherfane Rutherford, Andre Russell) retained.
- Durban’s Super Giants – R29.5m (~USD 1.68m), 15 slots, 1 RTM. Overseas core: Sunil Narine, Jos Buttler, Noor Ahmed, plus wildcard Heinrich Klaasen.
- Sunrisers Eastern Cape & Joburg Super Kings – R21.5m (~USD 1.2m), 14 slots each, 1 RTM each.
- Paarl Royals – R14.5m (~USD 826k), 13 slots, 5 overseas available.
- MI Cape Town – R11.5m (~USD 650k), 12 slots, 4 overseas. No RTM.
📊 Base Prices & Big Names
- Range: R200k (USD 11.4k) – R1.5m (USD 85.5k).
- Top-tier (R1.5m): Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Mustafizur Rahman, Moeen Ali, Jason Roy, Maheesh Theekshana, Johnson Charles.
- Next tier (R1m): James Anderson, Shakib Al Hasan, Reece Topley, Craig Overton, Logan van Beek, Corey Anderson, Bhanuka Rajapaksa (32 players).
- South African stars (R500k): Lungi Ngidi, Kwena Maphaka, Gerald Coetzee, Anrich Nortje, Nandre Burger, Wiaan Mulder, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Imran Tahir, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen, Dewald Brevis.
💸 Will someone cross R10 million?
So far, Tristan Stubbs’ R9.2m deal (USD 525k) in 2023 stands as the record. This year, Markram, Maharaj, Breetzke and Brevis are among favourites to spark bidding wars that could breach the R10m (USD 570k) mark.
🌍 Overseas Contingent
- England: 96 names (though Test stars like Root & Bairstow are missing due to the Ashes).
- West Indies (28), Sri Lanka (24), Afghanistan (19), Bangladesh (15), New Zealand (6).
- Zimbabwe (5), Ireland (5), plus Associate representation: USA (16), Netherlands (8), Scotland (6), Namibia (4), UAE (4), Nepal (1 – Dipendra Singh Airee).
- No Pakistan players, as all six SA20 franchises are IPL-owned.
📍 When & Where?
The SA20 Season 4 Auction takes place on:
- Date: Tuesday, September 9, 2025
- Time: 2 PM SAST | 5:30 PM IST
- Venue: Johannesburg
