Mumbai Indians (MI) owners Reliance Industries have finalized the name of their franchise in the upcoming South Africa’s T20 league, christening it ‘MI Cape Town’. However, MI’s arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings (CSK) owners, who have acquired the Johannesburg franchise, are also set to announce the new team’s name this week.
More importantly, CSK’s coach Stephen Fleming and iconic skipper, MS Dhoni will be expected to play a crucial role in the running of the franchise. As per the reports of Insidesport, a CSK official confirmed that the team’s official name will be announced in the coming days. However, it is only after the name gets officially unveiled that the franchise will announce the coaches as well as the other members of the support staff.
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As per the quotes in Insidesport, the CSK official said, “You will know the official name by this week. We are currently in talks with Stephen (Fleming) as we can’t think of any better person to carry forward the CSK legacy in a new venture. Dhoni’s involvement will depend on BCCI’s clearance. He won’t be playing but could be in some role if BCCI permits.”
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After acquiring one of the Cricket South Africa T20 League by Chennai Super Kings, their background work is in full progress. The team is likely to be called ‘Johannesburg Super Kings’ with Stephen Fleming as a coach and MS Dhoni as a mentor. But Dhoni will only be able to perform the mentor’s role only after BCCI’s approval.
Besides CSK, other IPL team owners including Mumbai Indians won bids for the other teams. It is important to note that the CSK franchise managed to get the Johannesburg franchise with the highest bid.
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The BCCI will soon be expected to allow non-contracted players or players who don’t feature in their states’ plans in domestic cricket for NOC to foreign T20 leagues. If that happens, many cricketers will be ready to play in foreign leagues as the Indian domestic calendar has a huge 6-month gap. A decision on the same is likely to be taken at the BCCI AGM in September.
