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ToggleThe red-ball captain for England, Ben Stokes, despite playing for the Super Kings in the last season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), ditched the franchise to sign for a new side in the upcoming season of the SA20 league. He has been currently ruled out from the upcoming three-match red-ball series after injuring his hamstring in the ongoing Hundred.
With the signing of Ben Stokes, the team looks to be a great touch and balance for the third season of the SA20 league, as the value of the event also increases with the signing of the superstar of world cricket for the 2025-26 season.
Other than him, the off-spinner of the Afghanistan side, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, has joined the Paarl Royals, who signed the former Indian wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik a few weeks back, besides having the former England captain Joe Root.
Ben Stokes joins MI Cape Town for their edition of SA20
Along with Ben Stokes, the pace bowling all-rounder Azmattuah Omarzai, too has shaken hands with the franchise as they aim for a better show after finishing with the wooden spoon in both the first two editions of the SA20 league.
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They join the likes of Rashid Khan, the star of the current era in the shortest format of the game, along with the left-arm pacer Trent Boult, along with the Sri Lanka fast bowler Nuwan Thushara, and the Johannesburg-born Warwickshire wicket-keeper batter Chris Benjamin.
The domestic players of the team are already quite a powerplay and impressive, thanks to the country’s best pacer of the ongoing generation, Kagiso Rabada, along with young upcoming batter Dewald Brevis, and Rassie van der Dussen, Ryan Rickelton, and spinner George Linde.
Last time most of the England players were not able to sign for the different teams in the SA20 league due to their five-match Test series in India. But this season, the likes of Ollie Pope have gone to Pretoria Capitals, while Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes are going to be part of the Joburg Super Kings and Durban Super Giants, respectively.
Ben Stokes wasn’t part of any franchise league for many seasons, as he last played for the Chennai Super Kings in the 2023 season before getting injured in the middle of the season. In 162 games of the shortest format, the 33-year-old has notched up 3027 runs at a strike rate of nearly 133, celebrating ten half-centuries and a couple of half-centuries, with the best of unbeaten 107-run knock.
He has also picked up 93 wickets in those games at an economy of 8.48. With his presence, the team will already have a huge impact on leadership in the group, along with the balance of playing an extra pacer or spinner in the eleven.
Ben Stoke’s contract is due to expire towards the end of September, as he turned down the three-year deal last year, as he has yet to feature in a white-ball game for the side since the end of the 2023 ODI World Cup, and hasn’t been part of a T20I game during the winning final of the T20 World Cup 2022.
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The injury of Stokes has been quite regular, as after his recent hamstring issue, the ECB remarked in a statement that the veteran is trying his best to make a return during their trip to Pakistan for three Test matches, which is set to begin on October 07.
MI Cape Town Squad for SA20 2025
Rashid Khan, Trent Boult, Ben Stokes, Azmatullah Omarzai, Nuwan Thusara, Chris Benjamin, Kagiso Rabada, Rassie van der Dussen, Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, George Linde, Thomas Kaber, Conner Esterhuizen, Deland Potgieter. (Yet to five more players).