Veteran South African cricketer Faf du Plessis has been chosen to lead the Johannesburg Super Kings in the CSA's new T20 league, slated to kick off in 2023. Du Plessis has been picked by the franchise as one of their five direct signings, for a price of $375,000. The Jo'burg franchise is owned by Chennai Super Kings Sports Limited, which also owns the four-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Their major signings include Moeen Ali for $400,000, and Maheesh Theekshana for $200,000, both of whom play for CSK in the IPL. Du Plessis has played 100 matches for Chennai Super Kings across two stints, from 2011 to 2015, and then from 2018 to 2021. And while Moeen joined CSK in 2021, Sri Lankan off-spinner Theekshana joined the side in 2022.
West Indies allrounder Romario Shepherd ($175,000) and South African fast bowler Gerald Coetzee ($50,000) have also been added to the team's roster, the latter joining as a development player.
In addition to these players, the outfit is also going to share members of their coaching staff with their Indian sister club. Stephen Fleming will be the head coach at Johannesburg too, while Eric Simons will be his assistant. An ESPNcricinfo report mentions that the franchise will also sign former South Africa allrounder Albie Morkel as part of the coaching staff. Morkel was a part of CSK from 2008 to 2013 as a player, including when they won back-to-back IPL titles in 2010 and 2011.
All six franchises, owned by IPL teams, can make direct signings from a pool of 30 marquee names that were finalised by CSA recently. As reported by ESPNcricinfo, the English contingent dominated the marquee list, with Jos Buttler and Liam Livingstone almost earning half a million dollars each. Moeen was the third most expensive on the list.
The six franchises are allowed 17 players in their squads. After the franchises announced their direct signings, their remaining players will be chosen at an auction scheduled for September 2, 2022, with a purse of $2 million. The maximum salary deducted as per the rules will be $250,000. Players getting more than that prescribed salary would still get paid in full, with the amount exceeding $250,000 counted as marketing cost.
