Faf du Plessis roped in by CSK owners for CSA T20 League: Report

JOHANNESBURG: Though the long-standing association between Faf du Plessis and four-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings was broken in IPL 2022 mega auction as Royal Challengers Bangalore acquired his services and made him captain of the side.

But the du Plessis-CSK partnership, which ran from 2011 to 2021, barring 2016 and 2017 when the franchise was suspended from IPL, may be reunited, this time in South Africa's upcoming new T20 League.

A report by Cricbuzz says that the Chennai Super Kings management has roped in the former South Africa captain as their marquee signing for the Johannesburg franchise in the CSA T20 League. The inaugural edition of the league, staled to begin in January 2023, will be contested by six teams, all owned by IPL franchise owners.

"Wednesday (August 10) was the last day for the direct acquisition of players for the six-team league, to be launched early next year. Bound by a confidentiality clause, the six franchises, all owned by the IPL teams, refused to disclose their star signings, but Cricbuzz can confirm that du Plessis, a former CSK regular, is back with his old team," said the report.

England all-rounder Moeen Ali, currently a CSK player in the IPL, has been roped in for the Johannesburg franchise in CSA T20 League. "Moeen featured in the marquee players list of the UAE League (ILT20) too but the English all-rounder, who represents CSK in the IPL, is understood to have preferred the South Africa tournament, to be held alongside the ILT20 in January-February," added the report.

The six franchises in the T20 league will have a squad of 17 players, and will be able to pre-sign up to five players made up of three international players, one Proteas player and one uncapped South African player prior to the auction.

The report further said pacer Anrich Nortje and all-rounder Aiden Markram have been signed up by Pretoria and Port Elizabeth teams, owned by Delhi Capitals and SunRisers Hyderabad respectively.

It added that Rajasthan Royals, with Paarl as their home base, have got Jos Buttler on board while Sanjiv Goenka-owned Lucknow Super Giants, having purchased the Durban team, has acquired services of wicketkeeper-batter Quinton de Kock.

Reliance Industries, who own IPL side Mumbai Indians and have a sister franchise in South Africa named as "MI Cape Town", are believed to have signed Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Kagiso Rabada and Rashid Khan for the CSA T20 League.

South Africa's T20 League will be directly clashing with UAE's International League T20 (ILT20), to be also held in January next year, which is also in the period of operation for Australia's Big Bash League (BBL) and Bangladesh's Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).