T20 Global league team Benoni Zalmi launched

Benoni Zalmi had an official team launch for the T20 Global League earlier in the day. Cricket South Africa (CSA) had announced at a function that Benoni will be one of the eight teams, that will take part in the T20 league. South African wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock will represent the “Benoni Zalmi” franchise as the marquee Proteas player.

The Sahara Park Willowmoore will be their home and Pakistani business executive Javed Afridi, who is also the owner of PSL franchise Peshawar Zalmi, was announced as the owner of the franchise. Afridi said that the name ‘Zalmi’ which stands for ‘youth’ in Urdu, attracted the owner to the city. It represents the youthfulness in sports.

Big names join the league

The host cities and their marquee South African players will be Durban (Hashim Amla), Benoni (Quinton de Kock), Pretoria (AB de Villiers), Stellenbosch (Faf du Plessis), Cape Town (JP Duminy), Bloemfontein (David Miller), Johannesburg (Kagiso Rabada) and Port Elizabeth (Imran Tahir).

The eight international marquee players in the T20 league are Dwayne Bravo (West Indies), Chris Gayle (West Indies), Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka), Brendon McCullum (New Zealand), Eoin Morgan (England), Kevin Pietersen (England), Kieron Pollard (West Indies) and Jason Roy (England). The player draft is scheduled for 19 August, with almost 400 players from 10 countries confirming their interest in playing in the tournament.

Change in rules

The newest T20 league will be played in the month of November, and it looks like the inaugural season will have a lot of firecrackers, with so many T20 freelancers joining the brand. 5 international players (includes Kolpak players) will now be allowed in each T20 Global League team squad, increased from the previously stipulated maximum of four (4) international players in each squad. Therefore, the squad size will be increased from 17 to 18 to ensure domestic players gets recognized equally.