Super Kings Franchise announce team name, captain, and coach for SA20 – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

Chennai Super Kings Cricket Limited (CSKCL), the owner of Chennai Super Kings and a team based out of Johannesburg in the Cricket South Africa’s SA20 league announced their team name, captain, and coach on Thursday.

The team has been named as ‘Joburg Super Kings’ during an interaction between several top officials of the league and the team and including Graeme Smith, K.S. Viswanathan, Faf du Plessis, and Stephen Fleming with veteran broadcaster Mark Nicholas as the host.

Former South Africa skipper Faf Du Plessis was announced as the captain of the team. Du Plessis has had healthy relations with the Super Kings franchise from his time in the previous seasons of IPL.

“I have an extremely lucky and long relationship with Chennai. When the opportunity presented itself again, I was extremely happy with that. I think it’s going to be (the SA20 league) incredibly crucial for the sustainability of South African cricket.

“I’ve almost been seeing firsthand the difference that league cricket can have an impact on a country’s cricket. Certainly been involved with the IPL for the last 10-11 years. You see the difference that it makes to the young generation and the young players, especially in that Indian cricket team and environment,” Du Plessis said talking about the importance of the league.

Du Plessis also praised MS Dhoni’s leadership qualities besides being grateful for playing under Graeme Smith, AB De Villiers, and under the mentorship of Stephen Fleming.

“To be around MS Dhoni, to just watch and observe exactly what he does on and off the field…I’m extremely grateful to have learned from so many great players and leaders in the game. In terms of leadership, MS Dhoni has done the most. He’s the best guy to learn from.”

Former Kiwi captain Stephen Fleming, who has been for long, the head coach of Chennai Super Kings was also appointed as the coach for Joburg Super Kings.

“My last memory of being at the Wanderers was with Chennai (Super Kings), winning the Champions League. I remember it very fondly, it’s a wonderful ground. First thing I remember was the support that we got through South Africa, which was a surprise for all of us. It just shows the passion of the South African cricket fans to follow good cricket and we like to produce that. We’re really hoping we can get good support from Johannesburg and around the country. That’s a big part of what Chennai is about,” Fleming said.

League Commissioner Graeme Smith also expresses his excitement at the manner in which the league is staging and franchises like the Super Kings being part of the league.

“We are very excited that we have been able to attract the likes of the Super Kings into South Africa. I mean they are an amazing franchise with a huge fanbase and the type of people you know with whom we can build a sustainable future with. So, from our perspective, we are very excited and we are looking forward to January (2023) and there is a lot of work that is taking place behind the scenes…Cricket South Africa has made a long-term commitment to this tournament…cleared the ICC window for 10 years now…So, we are very excited about the opportunity that this league is going to bring to our game in South Africa.”

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