Daredevils target purchase of South Africa franchise
The owners of Indian Premier League franchise, Delhi Daredevils, have reportedly put in a bid to buy a team in Cricket South Africa’s new Twenty20 league.
The Daredevils are owned by the GMR Group – an infrastructural company headquartered in Bangalore – and have recruited several South African cricketers across the 10-season history of the IPL.
All-rounder Chris Morris and fast bowler Kagiso Rabada played for Delhi in the 2017 tournament, while leg-spinner Imran Tahir, batsmen Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, AB de Villiers, seamers Wayne Parnell and Morne Morkel – and others – represented the franchise in previous editions.
The new tournament – currently billed as the #T20 Global Destination League – will feature eight city-based teams. The competition will start in early November and end on 16 December 2017.
Cricket South Africa have received over 150 Expressions of Interest from potential owners, with about 40 percent from South Africa, 35 percent Indian – and smaller figures from the United Kingdom, United States and United Arab Emirates.
Pakistan Super League franchise, Lahore Qalandars, were initially interested in bidding for a team, but have ultimately forgone the opportunity.
“Cricket South Africa were asking for 50 million rand, for 10 years, for bigger cities like Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban – and 30 million over the same period for smaller towns. This with absolutely no financial forecasts, no television deal, nothing concrete around financial forecasting – and no clarity around player quotas,” a reliable source told KweséESPN.
“Lahore’s owners are smart businessmen – and simply could not go ahead with this ambiguity attached to such a big ask. They have not put in a bid. The Daredevils have, despite not knowing much information.”
West Indian trio Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard and England’s Kevin Pietersen – who have all previously played domestic T20 cricket in South Africa – are among the tournament’s eight international marquee players. The others are New Zealander Brendon McCullum, England pair Eoin Morgan and Jason Roy – and Sri Lankan Lasith Malinga.
The local marquee players are de Kock, de Villiers, Duminy, Rabada, Tahir – and batsmen Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis and David Miller.
Jonhenry Wilson
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