Photo Credit: SA20 League
The Proteas’ major problem after Jacques Kallis’ retirement was how to replace a “two-in-one” cricketer.
Truth be told, Kallis was actually a three-dimensional cricketer if you take into account his superb catching.
It left the Proteas with the conundrum of often having to select two players to fill the Kallis void.
The Paarl Royals seemed set to endure a similar state of affairs when England white-ball captain Jos Buttler was ruled out of Betway SA20 Season 3 due to international commitments.
Buttler has been phenomenal for the Royals over the past two seasons on so many fronts. He is the Royals’ leading run-scorer – and second overall just 11 runs behind top run-getter Heinrich Klaasen’s 799 – and is also SA20’s second best wicketkeeper in terms of dismissals (19 to Tristan Stubbs’ 20).
The Royals therefore had to consider his replacement/s very carefully. It was not just about finding another wicketkeeper, but they also needed someone who could dominate the Powerplay and at the death with the bat.
And not to mention the cricket intelligence Buttler added to the Royals’ dressingroom.
It certainly helped that the Royals’ Director of Cricket is none other than Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara, who was a former international captain, top-order batter and wicketkeeper himself.
Sangakkara and his fellow advisors therefore deemed fit that it would take two players to replace Buttler, and not just anyone, as the Royals brought in former England Test captain and leading run-scorer ever Joe Root along with former India’ T20 World Cup winner Dinesh Karthik for Season 3.
“With Jos going, he takes care of the top and bats through, we had to kind of break that performance into two halves in two different players. Equally capable, and equally devastating,” Sangakkara told SA20.
“Joe Root is not just an incredibly capable player. What he adds to the team is his knowledge and experience and the way he invests himself into the team, how he embeds himself into the other players is magnificent. I’ve experienced that at the IPL.
“Dinesh Karthik is fantastic at the backend of the innings. He is explosive and one of the best finishers in T20 cricket in the world. He’s shown that time and time again.”
While the Royals have invested in over 500 caps worth of international experience in Root and Karthik, they have blended this with a major injection of youth into their squad.
Teenage pace sensation Kwena Maphaka leads the way, while the Royals have also incorporated his SAU19 teammate Lhuan-dre Pretorius into their squad after being drafted as Rookie last season. A further former SA U19 star Dewan Marais has been drafted as a Rookie for Season 3.
Young leg-spinner Nqaba Peter will also play a more prominent role next season after Proteas wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi was traded to Joburg Super Kings.
Sangakkara feels that it is in line with the Royals’ policy of not only developing players for the franchise, but readying players for international cricket.
“I think we have a good balance. I think the only thing we will always be keeping an eye on is the Future Tours Programme in terms of player availability,” he said.
“I think you always have to make room for unscheduled international cricket coming into the way, so we always want a squad to fill those gaps if and when they arise.
“We have Kwena, Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Nqaba Peter as well. Even with the Rookies we buy, it is very important to have two aspirations. The one is, of course, to put together a team that can win at the highest level.
“And then, of course, your service to the home country of the league you’re competing in, which is SA20 in this instance. With the idea of producing your players for your own benefit, but also of the national team.
“We have the same philosophy in the IPL, whether that’s playing for the Indian team or furthering your international careers. We have a really strong focus on both.”
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Name of Author: SA20 League
SA20, officially known as the Betway SA20 for sponsorship reasons, is a Twenty20 franchise cricket tournament in South Africa organized by Cricket South Africa (CSA). First held in the 2023 season, the league features six city-based teams. Sunrisers Eastern Cape won the first two editions of the tournament.
