The former South African skipper Faf Du Plessis has become the first marquee player to register for the Big Bash League’s inaugural overseas player draft. Last week Cricket Australia announced this new draft method to induct foreign talents into the Big Bash. This is being done to enthral more viewership and add excitement to the dying league.
The current Royal Challenger Bangalore(RCB) captain had a phenomenal sprint in the IPL. Firstly, He made his team qualify for the Playoffs. Secondly, RCB also came third in the 10-team points table. However, the former No.3 ranked T20I batter has already featured in the league earlier. Faf played a sole Big Bash match for Melbourne Renegades in the BBL IInd season. The 37-year-old has accumulated 7608 runs at 31.18 across his 293-game T20 career. His athletic fielding and revered on-field leadership skills are added ticks for him.
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Other Players in the first draft
Another South African on the list is Rilee Rossouw. He is currently the third leading run-scorer in England’s T20 Blast. The young gun has scored 498 runs at a strike rate of 191.53 in 12 matches with Somerset. Like Du Plessis, Rossouw boasts a formidable T20 career record with 6307 runs at 31.22 with a strike rate of 141.57 in 248 matches.
Namibian T20 World Cup hero David Wiese has also been nominated for the draft. He too has had an impressive Pakistan Super League campaign with champions Lahore Qalandars. Interestingly, the 37-year-old too is a South African-born cricketer who last represented South Africa in 2016 before switching allegiance.
Marchant de Lange, the fourth South African-born player confirmed as nominated for the draft, is also hoping to make his Big Bash debut later this year.
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Each BBL Team will be able to select up to three foreign players across four rounds and four salary bands ranging from $340,000 (platinum), $260,000 (gold), $175,000 (silver) and $100,000 for bronze.
