Here's why Pakistani players are not in the new South Africa 20 league

By Karan Rawat Sep 19, 2022, 19:10 IST

It will not be a wrong statement to say that the Indian Premier League has changed the way people play cricket across the globe. That is why we have seen so many countries now organising their domestic T20 leagues for the betterment of their cricket.

The latest addition to this list is the South Africa T20 league, which will be organised by Cricket South Africa (CSA). This league is ready to start next year with some of the biggest names in the game. Just like the other leagues, it will work on a franchise basis, picking players from different countries.

However, the first round of the auction for the inaugural season took place on September 19, Monday. A total of 533 players registered their names for the first edition of the SA20 from across the globe. But it was not a surprise to see that no player from Pakistan was registered for the action.

Thus, no Pakistani player will be a part of the SA20. However, it leads to an interesting question: why are Pakistani players not in this league? Well, the answer is far simpler than we think.

SA20 will feature a total of six franchises in the competition. These franchises are Joburg Super Kings, MI Cape Town, Paarl Royals, Durban's Super Giants, Sunrisers Eastern Cape, and Pretoria Capitals. All these franchises are owned by the existing franchise owners in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Thus, these owners don't want any kind of controversy. That's why they are willing to pick any player from Pakistan for their team. On the other hand, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is also not willing to give the NOC to their players to participate.

A franchise official told Insidesport, "No, we are not considering Pakistani players. There are way too many obstacles to go for Pakistani players. First, it’s a hard negotiation with the board to get them on board and allow them NOC. Then, comes the backlash of it. I don’t think any fans in India will be happy with their playing for us."

However, the official further highlighted that despite there being some top T20 players in Pakistan, they don't want to go for them. Most of the franchises in SA20 have revealed their captains and management staff, and they have gone for the familiar faces who have represented them in the IPL in some way.