10 local players whose careers could change in T20 Global League

The player draft for Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) inaugural T20 Global League takes place on Sunday.

Also read: 10 potential overseas bargains in the T20 Global League

In the second of two features, we take a look at 10 local players whose careers could take off if they are bought.

Rassie van der Dussen

The proven opener of the Highveld Lions team should be an obvious choice for one of the three Gauteng-based franchises given he has scored nearly a thousand runs in 36 innings for them, at a strike-rate of 127. Statistical work by the Impact Index shows that Van der Dussen’s performances have considerable influence on the games he plays and his consistency and six-hitting ability make him a very attractive top-order pick.

Kyle Simmonds

At this point in time, T20 money is far from the focus of Kyle Simmonds, but exposure is. The 23-year-old Boland all-rounder has played just one game for the Cape Cobras but took seven wickets in the match with his slow left-arm spin against the champion Knights. Since then he has been in magnificent form for the SA Emerging team against Zimbabwe A, with a couple of hundreds and regular wickets.

Janneman Malan

The youngest of three brothers who are all playing first-class cricket at the moment, 21-year-old Janneman has also been enjoying a prosperous time with the SA Emerging side, with two half-centuries and a century in his last four innings. The former SA U19 star also excelled in the Africa Cup and has everything you’d want in a rookie T20 batsman – positivity, aggression and skills – and he bats without fear.

Lungi Ngidi

Any bowler who is as tall and strong as Ngidi is going to be a handful but the 21-year-old is also a fast learner and has taken 30 wickets in his 30 T20s at an average of 22.26 and a good economy rate of 7.26. An integral part of the Titans’ limited-overs triumphs, he made a sensational international debut for South Africa in the T20 series against Sri Lanka, with six wickets in three matches.

Ruben Claassen

It is astonishing that tall off-spinner Claassen has not received more consideration from the Titans because his limited-overs numbers for Northerns are exceptional with economy rates of 3.61 in List A and 7.61 in T20 cricket, and an average of 24 in both formats. It’s not just the bounce Claassen gets that makes him good though, he is a clever bowler with excellent control.

Dayyaan Galiem

A product of the famed Rondebosch Boys’ High, his ability was obvious from a young age and the all-round talents of the 20-year-old were recognised last season as he became a member of the Cape Cobras team.  A swinger of the ball, it is his bowling that has been most impressive thus far in T20 cricket, with 10 wickets in seven matches at an average of 14.20 and an economy rate of 6.45. But the useful runs he made, in fluent style, in his first two four-day matches for the Cobras shows that he can obviously be a force with the bat as well.

Christiaan Jonker

The 30-year-old was an outstanding finisher for the Warriors last season as they went all the way to the CSA T20 Challenge final, scoring 263 runs at a strike-rate of 156. The game was invariably not over until he was out and the Rustenburg-born blazer is respected throughout domestic cricket as a very dangerous batsman.

Solo Nqweni

The 23-year-old former SA U19 pace bowler was one of the stars as Eastern Province won last year’s Africa Cup. A persistent performer since leaving Grey High School, Nqweni is rated highly in the Eastern Cape and is the sort of player the T20 Global League needs to provide career-changing opportunities for. He is also a useful batsman.

Kolpak players in draft – Cameron Delport, Richard Levi, Colin Ingram, Colin Ackermann, Simon Harmer, Brendan Taylor, Marchant de Lange, Hardus Viljoen, David Wiese, Stiaan van Zyl, Dane Vilas.

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