Image Credit- SA20
MI Due to his ongoing recuperation from back surgery,
Cape Town captain Rashid Khan will not play in the 2018 SA20 season. According
to a statement from his cricket board (ACB), the outstanding legspinner was
included in the Afghanistan squad on January 6 for the three-match T20I series
in India, but it is unlikely that he would play. Rashid has also skipped
Afghanistan’s most recent Big Bash League (BBL) and T20I series in the United
Arab Emirates.
Making his SA20 debut, Kieron Pollard will captain MI
Cape Town in Rashid’s injury-plagued absence. Pollard was also signed by MI
Emirates for the ILT20 in 2024; however, because of conflicting dates with the
SA20, Nicholas Pooran will replace Pollard as MI Emirates captain. Pollard’s
decision to join MI Emirates for the final ILT20 leg in the United Arab
Emirates is still up in the air.
Pollard was playing in the Abu Dhabi T10 league for
the New York Strikers, where his team was defeated by Deccan Gladiators in the
championship game. As a free agent in December 2023, Pooran—Pollard’s CPL
teammate at Trinbago Knight Riders—refused to accept his West Indies central
contract.
MI Cape Town also announced the signing of Sri Lanka
fast bowler Nuwan Thushara, who will take Jofra Archer’s place in the upcoming
season.
The SA20 will run from January 10 to February 10, and
the ILT20 from January 19 to February 17. The two leagues will also clash with
New Zealand’s Super Smash and the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).