Faf du Plessis will captain the Royal Challengers Bangalore in this season's IPL. Picture: Faf du Plessis/Gallo Images
Sixteen South Africans will be involved in this year’s edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) which gets under way on Friday.
Two of the 10 teams will be captained by South Africans: Faf du Plessis will take charge of the Royal Challengers Bangalore, while Aiden Markram will lead the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Markram was handed the captaincy of the IPL team after leading the Sunrisers Eastern Cape to the inaugural SA20 title a few weeks ago.
In all, 74 matches will be played with the opener on Friday being contested between the Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings.
The league stage will run until 21 May after which the knockout rounds will be played.
South Africa’s newest IPL player is Sisanda Magala, who was recently brought in by the Super Kings. His hot form for the Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the SA20 as well as for the Proteas in the limited overs matches against the West Indies caught the eye of the Chennai owners.
“I’m really happy about this opportunity,” said Magala.
“For anyone specialising in white ball cricket the IPL is the pinnacle. Everyone wants in on the IPL.
“To be honest, I’m very nervous … it’ll be two months. I’ve never been away that long.
“There will be new learnings for me. I’ve asked a few guys for some advice, asked a lot of questions. I’m excited, and hopefully everything goes well.”
Quinton de Kock, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Markram and Magala will join their respective IPL teams only later next week following the conclusion of the two-match Proteas ODI series against the Netherlands this weekend.
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The Proteas have to win the two matches to qualify automatically for the World Cup later this year. Anything other than a 2-0 series win will force the Proteas to play in a qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe.
The two 50-overs matches against the Netherlands take place at Willowmoore Park in Benoni on Friday and the Wanderers in Joburg on Sunday.
Chennai Super Kings: Dwaine Pretorius, Sisanda Magala
Gujarat Titans: David Miller
Mumbai Indians: Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Duan Jansen
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Faf du Plessis (capt)
Kolkata Knight Riders: David Wiese (Namibia)
Punjab Kings: Kagiso Rabada
Rajasthan Royals: Donavon Ferreira
Delhi Capitals: Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Rilee Rossouw
Lucknow Super Giants: Quinton de Kock
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Aiden Markram (capt), Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen
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