Nuwan Thushara was the only Sri Lankan player to feature in the latest season of the SA20.
The excitement has started to build up for the highly anticipated fourth edition of SA20, the premier T20 cricket league of South Africa. A massive number of 541 players are set to go under the hammer in the upcoming SA20 auction, which is set to take place on September 9 in Johannesburg.
However, some of the prime Sri Lankan players have chosen to miss the next season of the SA20. This includes Wanindu Hasaranga, Matheesha Pathirana, Nuwan Thushara, Eshan Malinga and Kusal Mendis. Previously, Thushara, Malinga and Mendis have represented three different SA20 franchises — MI Cape Town, Paarl Royals and Pretoria Capitals. Hasaranga and Pathirana are yet to make their debut in the league.
Though there are no exact reasons for their absence in one of the emerging T20 tournaments of the world, it could be assumed that the players have taken this move to manage their workload. Notably, the sixth season of the Lankan Premier League (LPL) is scheduled to take place from November 27 to December 23, 2025.
On the other hand, the SA20 2026 will kickstart on December 26 and will run till January 25, 2026. This will clash with their three-match ODI series against England, starting on January 22, and will be followed by as many T20Is from January 30, which will serve as preparation for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.
Now, the players, who are a regular in their national cricket team, would only be available for the group stage of the SA20 due to the home fifty-overs series against England. Considering this intensely packed schedule, the aforementioned names might have decided not to feature in the upcoming season of South Africa’s growing T20 tournament. Meanwhile, the likes of Charith Asalanka, Kamindu Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva, who do make the list, are mostly one-format players who can afford to squeeze in extra games. The rest are mostly Sri Lanka domestic players some whom the scouts would have eyes on.
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While some of the star Sri Lankan cricketers are set to not make an appearance in the SA20 2026, there are 24 players from the nation who have registered their names for the upcoming auction. This list includes their white-ball skipper Asalanka and Test captain de Silva, amongst various other key figures.
Some of them might get a chance to represent one of the six franchises of the league, named – Durban’s Super Giants, Joburg Super Kings, MI Cape Town, Paarl Royals, Pretoria Capitals and Sunrisers Eastern Cape.
Here is a list of the 24 Sri Lankan players who have registered for the SA20 2026 auction.
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