Switch on the lights. Set the chairs. Bring out the paddle. Lift the curtains. Get the calculators out. 

It’s that time of the year. It’s time to strategize, buy, and build. It’s time for the SA20 season 2 Auction. January 10, 2024 – where the onground battles will begin – isn’t too far. For now though, the battle is of the paddle, and here’s is ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING you need to know about the event happening on Wednesday (September 27). 

Wait, what’s this again?

Apart from the IPL, the SA20 happens to be the only other league in the world to have a player auction. So yeah, that’s what’s happening. It’s a small auction though, with most teams having retained their core of players from last year. 

Where’s it happening?

Johannesburg, at 1600 hours SAST (19:30 IST). 

How many slots do MI Cape Town have?

So all teams are required to have 19 players in their squad, with a minimum of 10 South Africans, a maximum of seven internationals, a wild card player, and the new Rookie South African player. MI Cape Town have retained 15 players from last year, including Jofra Archer, who is the wild card signing. This now means there are a total of four slots left to be filled at the auction, which will need to compulsorily include a local Rookie player, and a maximum of two overseas players. 

And how much money do we have left?

5.05 million Rand. 

Rookie player, you said? 

A South African player under the age of 22 who hasn’t been contracted in the SA20 before is counted as a Rookie player. Every team will have to have at least one Rookie. 

So how does one pick a Rookie player? 

Through a Rookie draft which would be conducted at the conclusion of the regular auction. Just fyi, MI Cape Town will have the first pick in the Rookie draft. In case a team picks a player, who is classified as a Rookie player at the Auction, they would have to pick another through the draft. 

And who have they retained from last year? 

Nine South Africans - Dewald Brevis, Kagiso Rabada, Rassie Van Der Dussen, Delano Potgieter, Ryan Rickelton, George Linde, Beuran Hendricks, Duan Jansen and Grant Roelofsen, and six overseas players - Rashid Khan, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Tom Banton, Olly Stone and Jofra Archer, have been retained.