Cricket: India and South African legends Sourav Ganguly and Shaun Pollock to lead Pretoria Capitals in SA20
Pretoria Capitals eyeing big 2026 SA20 season
The 2026 SA20 is set to get underway in December, but before that, all the attention will be on the SA20 Season 4 player auction, which will take place on September 9 in Johannesburg.
Much like we’ve seen in the Indian Premier League and the Big Bash, player auctions allow franchises to acquire the personnel they wish to use in the upcoming season, usually for life-changing sums of money.
Before that, though, the Pretoria Capitals have sent out a major signal of intent by bringing in two legendary cricketers in Sourav Ganguly and Shaun Pollock as their head and assistant coach, respectively, for the upcoming season.
Ganguly was a former Indian national team captain, and he will take the place of Jonathan Trott, marking his first role as a head coach. The 53-year-old retired from international cricket in 2008 and served as president of the BCCI between 2019 and 2022.
Pollock, on the other hand, is widely regarded as one of the greatest all-rounders South Africa has ever produced. He featured in 108 Tests, 303 ODIs and 12 T20Is for the Proteas and amassed 829 wickets across all formats of the game.
New coaching team to spearhead Capitals' auction push
The Pretoria Capitals reached the final of the inaugural edition of the SA20 back in 2023 when they lost to the Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the final. However, there is a huge belief around the franchise that a return to prominence is expected this season.
The major reason for this optimism is not only because they have brought in the experience of Ganguly and Pollock to lead the side, but also due to the team having the biggest purse available for the upcoming SA20 Player Auction.
A total of R32.5, ($1.83m) is believed to be the figure that the Pretoria-based side has at its disposal this year, and their new coaching pair are expected to begin work on creating their shortlists of potential targets in the coming days.
As it stands, there has already been confirmation that the Capitals have confirmed the signings of England’s Will Jacks as well as West Indian duo Sherfane Rutherford and Andre Russell for the 2026 edition of the competition.
