South African batting great AB de Villiers was among 12 leading players named for the country’s new Mzansi Super League Twenty20 tournament.
Six Proteas and as many overseas stars were named as marquee players. Six teams will fight for the services of players during the draft in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
England ODI captain Eoin Morgan and compatriot Jason Roy and Dawid Malan join West Indians Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo and Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan as the top overseas players.
De Villiers, who retired from international cricket earlier this year, is set to represent Tshwane Spartans, who are based at his home ground in Centurion.
South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis will represent the Paarl Rocks team, Hashim Amla the Durban Heat, JP Duminy the Cape Town Blitz, Kagiso Rabada the Jozi Stars in Johannesburg and Imran Tahir the Port-Elizabeth based Nelson Mandela Bay Giants.
The league is scheduled to run from November 15 to December 16.
Cricket South Africa chief executive Thabang Moroe said the league received a big response from players around the world.
“We have received applications from over 200 top international players who expressed interest in playing in this inaugural tournament and will have their names in the hat ahead of the player draft process,” said Moroe.
South Africa’s previous attempt to stage the Twenty20 tournament failed in 2017, leading to the ouster of then chief executive Haroon Lorgat and a loss of around $14 million. South Africa’s national broadcaster SABC have been granted the rights to broadcast the tournament.
