South Africa has successfully launched a franchise T20 tournament after three failed attempts. The SA20, which begins on Tuesday, is not the Global League T20 or the Mzansi Super League. The newest league on the circuit is covered in the following guide.

Is it still a T20 tournament if it doesn’t have a T in it?

So you’ve noticed this abnormality, ah ha. Well, not only is there no T in this T20 event, but there is also no Premier or League in it. It is thereby starting a whole new name phenomena. In fact, SA20 commissioner Graeme Smith claimed that they purposefully omitted the T to demonstrate their desire to differ.

So what’s different about it?

The truth is, nothing. It’s still a T20 tournament even without the T, and it basically takes the same format as another one you may be familiar with. There will be a round-robin phase in which the six teams compete against one another both at home and away, followed by semifinals and a championship game. Each side is allocated a roster of 18 players, the majority of whom are South Africans, according to a pre-tournament auction. They will be permitted to use four foreign players in each starting XI on match days.

Is it even a T20 tournament if there's no T in it?

We've got the lowdown on @SA20_League right here, including everything from David Miller's pink nipple plasters to the country's massive central region missing out. https://t.co/EoDfRsrJfv#cricket

— Firdose Moonda (@FirdoseM) January 9, 2023

This sounds a bit like the IPL.

Ka-ching! All six teams are owned by IPL franchises, and they have even given South African cities their cutesy names. There are the Paarl Royals, Sunrises Eastern Cape, Durban Super Giants, Pretoria Capitals, Joburg Super Kings, and everyone’s favourite reinterpretation, MI Cape Town (pronounced MY Cape Town).

This must mean there’s big money involved, right?

You’re correct in that. One of the reasons no South African companies were allowed to join the league was because of large offers from IPL teams. The franchises were apparently all purchased for over a million dollars, with Johannesburg and Cape Town reportedly costing USD 28 million apiece, however the exact amounts have not been made public.

The good news for these investors is that they may anticipate a return as soon as the first year. Even though CSA had forecasted it would take five years, the league is anticipated to break even as early as the first year thanks to a respectable broadcast agreement in India and subsequently with other international media providers.

There are more than $4 million in prizes up for grabs. The auction also had big money being traded. At USD 520,000 (roughly R9.2 million), Tristan Stubbs was the most expensive purchase. Other Rand millionaires include Rilee Rossouw, Donovan Ferreira, Marco and Duan Jansen, Lungi Ngidi, Wayne Parnell, Sisanda Magala, George Linde, Heinrich Klaasen, Reeza Hendricks, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Daryn Dupavillon, Evan Jones, B

You’ve now touched a nerve. Bavuma, who had a base price of R850,000 ($50,000), failed to find a buyer at the auction due to a protracted injury and poor performance. Bavuma had a poor T20I record at the time of the auction on September 19, having missed more than three months of competitive cricket due to an elbow injury that kept him out of South Africa’s whole tour of England.