The auction dates for the upcoming season of South Africa’s premier T20 league (SA20 2026) have been set for September 9. Furthermore, the number of retentions per team has been reduced to six, the least in the tournament’s history.
This means 72 player slots are to be filled at the auction of the 108 places available across the six franchises. Out of those six, 3 can be local and 3 can be overseas players.
Notably, the SA20 2026 season has been moved forward from its usual January start. With no home Tests scheduled in the 2025-26 summer, the fourth edition will kick off on Boxing Day. The SA20 will revert back to the regular window for 2027 and 2028, when it will also have a slightly longer season.
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Apart from the total number of retentions, there are a few other rules that have been revamped for the SA20 2026 auction. The salary cap has been raised to R41 million (approximately $2.31 million) from the previous R39.1 million ($2.2 million). This now makes the SA20 league to have the second-highest salary cap globally after the IPL.
Additionally, franchises will have the option to use a Right to Match (RTM) card. This enables them to retain a player from Season 3 by matching the highest bid received for that player during the auction. The number of RTM cards available to each team will depend on how many South African players they have retained.
The league has also scrapped the rookie draft and introduced a new mandate requiring all teams to sign at least two players under the age of 23.
The squad structure remains the same as in past editions, with teams permitted up to seven international players and at least 11 South African players.
Teams will also have the option to recruit one wildcard player without their salary adding to the cap.
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