Markram in SA20 auction pool for 2026 after leading SEC to titles in 2023 and 2024, along with a runner-up finish in 2025.
Ahead of the forthcoming SA20 season, Aiden Markram has chosen to go to the auction rather than be retained by Sunrisers Eastern Cape, the two-time champions.
Markram, who led Sunrisers to two consecutive championships in 2023 and 2024 and ended third in runs scored during the 2025 season, when his club finished second, informed the team that he would like to attend the auction on September 9.
However, if Sunrisers wish to repurchase Markram, they will have the option to do so by using the right-to-match card.
On July 23, the now three-season SA20 will reveal its list of retentions. Among the South Africans, marquee names like Kagiso Rabada, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Faf du Plessis, and Marco Jansen have either been selected or kept by teams in the pre-signed group. Jos Buttler, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Rashid Khan, and Nicholas Pooran are a few of the well-known figures in the foreign group.
The SA20 agreed to allow no more than six retentions or pre-signed players, the fewest in the tournament’s brief history, earlier this year in a significant overhaul of the auction procedure. Franchises can now select one player, either local or foreign, for a fee outside of the purse thanks to the addition of a wildcard option for the first time.
With 72 of the 102 spots up for grabs for the six franchises, this will be the largest auction since the tournament’s inception in 2022. The pay cap was raised from Rand 39.1 million (about US$2.2 million) to Rand 41 million (approximately US$2.31 million).
Although the wildcard has been there since the inaugural season, it was first used to select players who were left unsold following the auction. This season, SA20 changed the regulation to let teams sign a South African local player from the previous season or an international player as a wildcard player.
This season, there is less overlap between the SA20 and ILT20 tournaments than in prior seasons, when they overlapped and player availability became a never-ending battle for clubs. On Boxing Day (December 26), the SA20 gets underway. December 2 to January 4 is when the ILT20 timeframe is in effect.