SA20 Auction 2025: Will Anyone Break The R10 Million Mark?

This year’s SA20 auction for the 2025-26 season will be one of the largest to date, with almost two-thirds of the player group available for bidding. To be held on Tuesday, September 9 in Johannesburg, this year’s auction stands a chance of seeing players reach the R10 million mark for the very first time in the league’s brief but eventful history.

SA20 Auction: Why This Season Stands Out

Although SA20 isn’t labeling it a “mega auction” like the IPL, the size is unquestionably huge. Among the 114 possible player spots over six franchises, 84 are up for grabs, which makes this auction pivotal in deciding team strategies for the season.

Every franchise could keep or pre-sign up to six players, in addition to a wildcard signing, who doesn’t count towards the R41 million salary cap (~USD 2.31 million). This season also abolishes the rookie draft model, where teams must sign at least two under-23 players straight into their bottom team of 19.

Franchise Purse and RTM Cards: Who Has the Power?

Pretoria Capitals

Purse: R32.5 million (USD 1.85 million)

Available spots: 16

Overseas positions remaining: 4

RTM cards: 2

Key players retained: Will Jacks, Sherfane Rutherford, wildcard Andre Russell

Durban’s Super Giants

Purse: R29.5 million (USD 1.68 million)

Available spots: 15

Overseas spots remaining: 4

RTM cards: 1

Players retained: Sunil Narine, Jos Buttler, Noor Ahmed

Wildcard: Heinrich Klaasen

Sunrisers Eastern Cape

Purse: R21.5 million (USD 1.2 million)

Available slots: 14

Overseas spots left: 4

RTM cards: 1

Joburg Super Kings

Purse: R21.5 million (USD 1.2 million)

Available slots: 14

Overseas spots left: 4

RTM cards: 1

Paarl Royals

Purse: R14.5 million (USD 826,000)

Available slots: 13

Overseas spots left: 5

RTM cards: None

MI Cape Town

Purse: R11.5 million (USD 650,000)

Available slots: 12

Overseas spots left: 4

RTM cards: None

SA20 Auction Base Prices: From Bargains to Big Names

Player base prices from R200,000 (USD 11,400) to R1.5 million (USD 85,500). Some of the popular international players in the top bracket are:

Rahmanullah Gurbaz

Mustafizur Rahman

Moeen Ali

Jason Roy

Maheesh Theekshana

Johnson Charles

Players in R1 million base price:

James Anderson

Shakib Al Hasan

Reece Topley

Craig Overton

Logan van Beek

Corey Anderson

Bhanuka Rajapaksa

Almost all of the 549 players have gone with the base price of minimum, but some of the biggest South African stars have set themselves down for R500,000 (USD 28,500), such as:

Lungi Ngidi

Gerald Coetzee

Kwena Maphaka

Anrich Nortje

Wiaan Mulder

Nandre Burger

Lizaad Williams

Key SA batters & spinners at R500,000:

Quinton de Kock

Aiden Markram

Reeza Hendricks

Rassie van der Dussen

Dewald Brevis

Keshav Maharaj

Tabraiz Shamsi

Imran Tahir

Will Anyone Break the R10 Million Barrier?

So far, the most expensive SA20 acquisition is Tristan Stubbs at R9.2 million (~USD 525,000). But could this season shatter that record?

Possible players to go over R10 million:

Aiden Markram – SA T20I captain and two-time SA20 winner

Keshav Maharaj – High-value allround spinner

Dewald Brevis – Young star with breakout year

Matthew Breetzke – Hot domestic star

Breach of the R10 million (USD 570,000) mark would be a new record high in SA20 auction history.

Overseas Talent at the SA20 Auction 2025-26

In the absence of England’s Test stars Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow (due to the Ashes), there’s a high overseas presence in the auction pool:

England: 96 players

West Indies: 28 players

Sri Lanka: 24 players

Afghanistan: 19 players

Bangladesh: 15 players

New Zealand: 6 players

Zimbabwe: 5 players (Sean Williams, Ryan Burl, etc.)

Ireland: 5 players

Australia: Just 2 (D’Arcy Short, Peter Hatzoglou)

Associate Nation Highlights:

USA: 16 players

Netherlands: 8 (Roelof van der Merwe included)

Scotland: 6

Namibia: 4 (Gerhard Erasmus included)

UAE: 4

Nepal: 1 (Dipendra Singh Airee)

It’s interesting to see that no Pakistani players are included in the SA20 auction list. This trend has been repeated, despite the SA20 being open to players across the world most likely because the franchises are IPL owned.