Captain and coach combinations crucial to SA20 success

An often-underestimated aspect of winning a tournament such as the Betway SA20 is the relationship between the captain and coach of a champion team.

From pre-season strategy to in-match tactics, the captain and coach play vital roles in guiding their sides throughout a season.

STEPHEN FLEMING & FAF DU PLESSIS – JOBURG SUPER KINGS

Fleming has been synonymous with the Super Kings franchise since the very beginning.

In the first season of the Indian Premier League (“IPL”), in 2008, Fleming took part as a player for the Chennai Super Kings, before becoming their head coach in 2009.

He has held that position ever since and has also been the head coach for the Joburg Super Kings since the inaugural season of the SA20.

Fleming has won seven trophies with the Chennai Super Kings, which includes five in the IPL and another two in the short-lived Champions League.

Faf du Plessis was part of two of the title winning efforts in the IPL under the coaching of Fleming and once in the Champions League.

He has also captained the Joburg Super Kings since season one of the SA20 and the Texas Super Kings since season one in Major League cricket.

With plenty of experience between the captain and the coach, the Joburg Super Kings will feel they have underperformed so far in the first three seasons of the SA20 and will be looking to hunt down the fourth collective trophy of the Du Plessis-Fleming partnership.

SOURAV GANGULY & KESHAV MAHARAJ – PRETORIA CAPITALS

Ganguly has done it all in international cricket. He captained India in almost 200 international matches, which included winning the 2002 Champions Trophy.

He served as the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India between 2019 and 2022.

He has also been the Director of Cricket for JSW Sports who are co-owners of the Capitals franchise.

Now his attention turns to the Pretoria Capitals, which will be his first stint as a head coach.

Keshav Maharaj is no stranger to the captaincy role and will take over the reigns during his first season at the Pretoria Capitals having previously done the same for Durban’s Super Giants.

Maharaj will be keen to lay down a blueprint for a turnaround in fortunes for the men from Centurion who only managed two wins last season.

It will be important for the new coach and captain to have a good understanding as they look to guide a significantly overhauled team this season back to winning ways.

LANCE KLUSENER & AIDEN MARKRAM – DURBAN’S SUPER GIANTS

Klusener has been the head coach for Durban’s Super Giants since the first season of the SA20.

The team made the final of the second edition of the tournament but were unable to make the playoffs in the other two seasons.

Previously Klusener was the head coach of Afghanistan between 2019 and 2021. He was also a consultant for the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League in 2023.

It was very clear in the Betway SA20 Auction ahead of this season that the Durban Super Giants wanted Aiden Markram as their captain, and they forked out R14 million to secure his services.

Having already captained the Sunrisers Eastern Cape to three consecutive finals, and winning two of them, Durban’s Super Giants will feel confident in Markram’s ability to do more of the same for his new team.

ADRIAN BIRRELL & TRISTAN STUBBS – SUNRISERS EASTERN CAPE

Birrell was born and raised in Makhanda, just 120km from Gqeberha, so coaching the Sunrisers Eastern Cape is very much a labour of love.

Birrel has bucket loads of experience as a coach having overseen many a team since 1999 when he was the acting head coach of Eastern Province.

His experience and man-management skills have served him well in his tenure with the Sunrisers thus far, with two trophies and a runners-up medal in the cabinet.

Stubbs was the most expensive buy in the very first SA20 Auction and has gone on to play an important role for the SEC franchise, not only with the bat but with the gloves behind the stumps as well.

However, this will be his first fulltime stint as the captain of a professional side. He has a lot to live up to with the legacy Aiden Markram has left behind. He is fortunate to have Birrell as his mentor.

It will also be to Stubbs advantage that is intimately acquainted with the team and the conditions and he won’t have to keep wicket this season after the purchase of Quinton de Kock who will also contribute significantly from a leadership perspective.

If Stubbs shows promise as captain this season, that will also bode well for the future of the national team.

TREVOR PENNEY & DAVID MILLER – PAARL ROYALS

Trevor Penney will be at the helm for the Paarl Royals for his second season. Penney is no stranger to the Royals franchise having previously been the assistant coach at the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League as well as the head coach of the Barbados Royals in the Caribbean Premier League.

Under his guidance the Paarl Royals dominated at home where they won all five of their matches, but they were unable to progress through to the final despite a top two finish ensuring that they had two bites at the cherry in the Qualifier and Eliminator matches.

Penney will be going into this tournament knowing that it will take more than just home dominance to lift the trophy.

David Miller will continue as captain of the side this season. Miller has looked calm and at ease as captain of the Paarl Royals and will yet again have to take on a lot of responsibility with the bat and in the field.

The team have made the knockout stages of the tournament in every season of the SA20 but are yet to make a final, which is something Miller and his coach will look to rectify.

ROBIN PETERSON & RASHID KHAN – MI CAPE TOWN

As the saying goes, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. The defending champions will continue with the tried, trusted and successful combination of Peterson and Rashid as coach and captain respectively for the fourth season of the SA20.

Peterson has now won tournaments as head coach of MI New York, MI Cape Town and more recently, the Warriors in the CSA T20 Challenge.

After two poor seasons in which MI Cape Town finished bottom of the log, Peterson helped turn fortunes around with the team finally playing to their potential.

Peterson attempted to retain of re-purchase as much of his title winning players as possible at the auction and will look for back-to-back trophies.

Rashid Khan is vastly experienced having played over 500 T20 matches in his career.

From a personal point of view, he has not been as successful in this tournament as he has been in others, but don’t let that count against him turning around that record and pushing MI Cape Town along his normal dominant route.