Cricket South Africa (CSA) will hold the auction for the 2026 edition of the SA20 tomorrow (September 9). Big names like James Anderson and Shakib Al Hasan are all set to go under the hammer. However, one needs to know a bit more about how the SA20 auction works since it isn’t exactly similar to the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Squad size
The CSA allows teams to have 19-member squads. Only 7 overseas players can be part of the squad. Prior to the season, it was announced that franchises aren’t allowed to retain or pre-sign more than 6 players (a maximum of 3 overseas players and 3 South African players, excluding their wildcard player). You might be wondering what a wildcard player is, so let’s find out.
What is a wildcard player in SA20?
Teams are allowed to choose one player, who can be a South African or a foreigner, whose salary or fee isn’t included in the auction purse. The deadline for naming that player is 21 December 2025, but franchises have named their picks, who you can see below.
Heinrich Klaasen (Durban’s Super Giants), Donovan Ferreira (Joburg Super Kings), Kagiso Rabada (MI Cape Town), Rubin Hermann (Paarl Royals), Andre Russell (Pretoria Capitals), and Marco Jansen (Sunrisers Eastern Cape).
Mandatory to pick under-23 players
CSA has cancelled the rookie draft from this SA20 auction forward. Instead, teams have to sign at least two players who are under 23 years old in their 19-man squad.
Cricket 4 mins SA20 2026 auction: Squads, retentions, purse, salary cap, slots left & all you need to knowSA20 auction: Available slots
549 players have registered for the auction. You can find the entire list here. Of these, just 84 will be able to find a spot. But there’s a further breakup. 59 are for South African players, while the remaining 25 are for overseas players.
Introduction of the RTM card
After the reintroduction of the Right to Match (RTM) Card in the IPL, the SA20 auction will start to use it as well. Each franchise will get one.
Salary cap, remaining purse & slots left
The salary cap for each team is R 41 million (INR 20.55 crore).
TeamPurse RemainingSlots LeftDurban’s Super GiantsR 29.50 million(INR 14.79 crore)15Joburg Super KingsR 21.50 million(INR 10.78 crore)14MI Cape TownR 11.50 million(INR 5.76 crore)12Paarl RoyalsR 14.50 million(INR 7.27 crore)13Pretoria CapitalsR 32.50 million(INR 16.30 crore)16Sunrisers Eastern CapeR 21.50 million(INR 10.78 crore)14Squads before SA20 2026 auction
Durban’s Super Giants
Retained: Noor Ahmad (Afghanistan)
Pre-signings: Jos Buttler (England), Sunil Narine (West Indies)
Wildcard: Heinrich Klaasen
Joburg Super Kings
Retained: Faf du Plessis (captain)
Pre-signings: Richard Gleeson (England), Akeal Hosein (West Indies), James Vince (England)
Wildcard: Donovan Ferreira
MI Cape Town
Retained: Corbin Bosch, Trent Boult (New Zealand), Rashid Khan (Afghanistan), George Linde, Ryan Rickelton
Pre-signing: Nicholas Pooran (West Indies)
Wildcard: Kagiso Rabada
Paarl Royals
Retained: Bjorn Fortuin, David Miller, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Afghanistan)
Pre-signing: Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe)
Wildcard: Rubin Hermann
Pretoria Capitals
Retained: Will Jacks (England)
Pre-signing: Sherfane Rutherford (West Indies)
Wildcard: Andre Russell (West Indies)
Sunrisers Eastern Cape
Retained: Tristan Stubbs
Pre-signings: Jonny Bairstow (England), Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar (Afghanistan), Adam Milne (New Zealand)
Wildcard: Marco Jansen
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