Johannesburg 21 August : Johannesburg, Aug 21 : Chennai Super Kings Cricket Limited (CSKCL) that has purchased the Johannesburg franchise in the Cricket South Africa T20 League on Sunday, announced the signing of five players, including South African’s Faf du Plessis as well as England all-rounder Moeen Ali for the inaugural edition.Apart from Faf and Moeen Other players signed include Maheesh Theekshana (Sri Lanka), Romario Shepherd (West Indies) and Gerald Coetzee (South Africa).
“As according to the guidelines of CSA We are able to take four players from the list of players in the market.one marquee player is from South Africa.
The remaining three players maximum two players can originate from one nation,” declared K.S.Viswanathan Chief Executive Officer of Chennai Super Kings Cricket Limited.
“We have decided to select Faf, Moeen, Maheesh and Romario as the four players signed by Cricket South Africa.
We are also permitted to select one development player from South Africa.We have settled on Gerald as suggested by Faf,” Viswanathan was quoted as saying in the release.
In the press release the CSKCL boss also explained the reasons for selecting the players.
On the signing of Faf du Plessis, Viswanathan said, “Faf has been a backbone of Chennai Super Kings in the IPL for the past 10 years.
He is one of the most consistent players in our team.We didn’t have the chance to select him in the auction in the IPL.We looked for a chance and it was in the CSA T20 League.We are pleased that we were able to get Faf returning with the Super Kings family.”
“It will be a excellent chance for Faf to return to achieve the same level of success as he did for the Chennai Super Kings.His experience as an South African player and captain and knowing the conditions will be valuable.I’m certain that with his participation in the team, we will be in good shape for the for the future.” he added.
Concerning Moeen Ali he declared, “As the case of Moeen is concerned, everyone knows of the potential of his all-rounder as well as his ability in white-ball cricket.We are extremely pleased to have kept Moeen.”
On Maheesh Theekshana Viswanathan said, “Theekshana is a mystery spinner who has been performing very well in white-ball cricket.If you play in South African conditions, a spinner of his calibre will be of immense benefit and I’m sure he can excel there.”
On Romario Shepherd, he stated, “Romario Shepherd is an all-rounder with plenty of potential.He was a great player in the West Indies in the recently concluded series , too.We’re hoping that the West Indies will be a great contribution to the team in South Africa.”
Viswanathan declared that Coetzee is one of the most consistent young all-rounders in South Africa.
“We have heard that he’s the cusp of getting to the next stage.We’re hoping the all-rounder of South Africa will be a excellent player to join the team.I’m sure with the auction scheduled in the middle of September, we’ll be able pick the right team,” he concluded.
bsk/inj
