Some of the star players that were retained by the SA20 franchises were Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Dewald Brevis and Sam Curran (MI Cape Town), Faf du Plessis and Gerald Coetzee (Super Kings), Quinton de Kock and Kyle Mayers (Super Giants), David Miller and Jos Buttler (Paarl Royals), and Anrich Nortje (Pretoria Capitals).

While the pre-signings are effectively closed and finalised, teams have until July 31 to trade South African players, retain overseas players, and also buy-out cricketers – both South African and overseas. The players bought out would then go back to the auction.

The second season of the SA20 will also see one additional match in the later stages – a mirror of the IPL’s knockout phase – and a salary purse increase of Rand 5.1 million (US$ 276,000 approx.) – per team. Each of the six sides can contract an additional player, too, bringing the total squad size to 19. The additional player must be a South African who is 22 or younger and has not played in the SA20 previously.