Team Feature: Durban Super Giants

The impressive and occasionally daunting stadium in Kingsmead will be home to the Durban Super Giants.

A venue that has been one of the traditional homes of cricket in South Africa will be more than happy to welcome its latest team, owned by the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, headquartered in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata.

The RPSG Group are owners of the Lucknow Super Giants team, who made their entry in the Indian Premier League in 2022 and qualified for the playoffs in their debut season. They were led by KL Rahul and coached by Andy Flower.

The group that owned the team have previous IPL experience, having owned the Pune-based Rising Pune Super Giants in the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

Quinton de Kock was one of the cogs of the team in 2022, having been handpicked by the team’s director of cricket, Gautam Gambhir, himself a left-hand opening batter.

RPSG won their bid for the Lucknow franchise in the IPL paying a record $940 million for 10 years, well in excess of the nearest contender. But Goenka made it clear why he had made the play. “Firstly, you invest a few millions for passion, you don't invest hundreds of millions for passion,” he said. “Secondly, what I have to pay is the difference between what I get by way of broadcast rights etc and what I have to pay by way of licence fees.”

Goenka also underscored the value addition that happened with teams in the IPL, citing the Mumbai Indians, who were bought for $112M in 2008 but have since become league leaders.

The Super Giants, who will be based out of Durban, boasting the largest Indian-origin support base in South Africa, will hope de Kock, as captain, can be the leading light. But they also have the services of Reece Topley, the tall English fast bowler, who has made a rousing comeback to international cricket after struggles with injuries. And then there is Jason Holder, the West Indian who has tasted success in leagues around the world, and the experience of Keshav Maharaj, South Africa’s most successful spinner of all time.

They also have Johnson Charles, the St Lucia wicketkeeper-batsman whose muscular hits square of the wicket are a sight to behold. Wiaan Mulder, is going to be a key member of this outfit, holding his own with bat and ball.

The team is coached by Lance Klusener, whose exploits with bat and ball as player have been followed by roles in think-tank positions around the world. “This is a new challenge for me. It makes me very proud. I am looking forward to meeting the team," Klusener, who has played 49 tests and 171 ODIs, said, when his appointment as coach was announced.

The RPSG Group, formally established in its current avatar in 2011, has interests in power and energy, carbon black manufacturing, retail, IT-enabled services, FMCG, media and entertainment, infrastructure and education.

Sanjiv Goenka is the son of Rama Prasad Goenka, who founded the RPG Group. The elder Goenka was a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of Parliament in India.