Tabraiz Shamsi to miss out on SA20 for personal reasons as MI Cape Town announce Kaber as Shamsi’s replacement.
The wristspinner for MI Cape Town and South Africa, Tabraiz Shamsi, will not play in the forthcoming SA20 season. All-rounder Thomas Kaber, who also bowls left-arm wristspin, has taken Shamsi’s spot when he became unavailable due to personal circumstances.
George Linde, Dane Piedt, and Rashid Khan make up MICT’s spin-bowling lineup during the fourth season. Corbin Bosch, Dwaine Pretorius, Trent Boult, and Kagiso Rabada make up their fast-bowling attack.
Kaber is back with the team he played for the previous two seasons. He participated in eight games during the 2023–24 season and one during MICT’s championship-winning 2024–25 campaign.
Kaber has bowled in seven SA20 innings and claimed ten wickets overall, averaging 16.60 at an economy rate of 8.05. Despite scoring just 34 runs in four batting innings, he has three undefeated knocks. He has seven wickets at an economy rate of 6.31 and an average of 17.42 in six games for Warriors in the ongoing CSA T20 Challenge.
Shamsi was scheduled to play his first season with the team after being selected by MICT in the September auction for R500,000 (about US$29,000).
He played with the Philadelphia Royals for the first two seasons and the Johannesburg Super Kings the previous one. At the moment, Shamsi is playing for the Northern Warriors in the Abu Dhabi T10. He chose not to participate in the ODI series against India earlier this year after opting out of a Cricket South Africa (CSA) national contract. The 2024 T20 World Cup was his final Twenty20 International match.
against December 26, the reigning champions MICT take against the Super Giants of Durban in the season’s opening match. On January 25, both the opening game and the championship game will take place at Newlands, the team’s home stadium.