SA20 2027 auction: full list of players sold and unsold
The SA20 2027 player auction concluded at the Galleria in Sandton, Johannesburg on October 7, with franchises finalising their squads for the fifth edition of the tournament. Out of 789 players who entered the process, 156 cricketers were shortlisted to feature at the auction.
A shortlist of 156 was drawn from the 789 entrants, the source material states, and that list included 75 cricketers from South Africa and 61 overseas players. The auction took place on Wednesday, October 7, at the Galleria in Sandton.
Durban’s Super Giants and Paarl Royals entered the auction with their squads already complete and were effectively spectators during the event. The other four franchises — Joburg Super Kings, MI Cape Town, Sunrisers Eastern Cape and Pretoria Capitals — had places to fill; the report says they had to fill 19 spots to take their total of 19 players. Joburg Super Kings and MI Cape Town entered the auction needing six players each, and JSK held the highest remaining purse, 20.6 million rand.
Several high-profile signings were recorded for Joburg Super Kings. Faf du Plessis, who led Joburg Super Kings in previous seasons, was re-signed by the franchise and will return to JSK for SA20 2027. Kieron Pollard, described in the report as having been part of the MI family since the beginning, was picked up by JSK and will wear the Super Kings jersey in the upcoming season.
The auction produced expensive buys: uncapped South African all-rounder Jason Rowles became the costliest player when JSK spent 2.9 million rand on him. Wiaan Mulder was another high-priced purchase, with MI Cape Town buying him for 2.6 million rand.
A number of named players went unsold at the auction. England’s Jordan Cox and Moeen Ali, Bangladesh’s pace sensation Nahid Rana, and the trio Allah Ghazanfar, Mohammad Nabi and Fazalhar Farooqi all failed to attract buyers during the event.
The auction has ended and, according to the report, all six teams have locked their squads for SA20 2027. The competition is scheduled to start in January.