England’s Test captain Ben Stokes has been named in MI Cape Town’s squad for the SA20, 2025. Alongside Azmatullah Omarzai, the Afghanistan all-rounder, he will be making his debut for MI Cape Town in the tournament.
The duo will join the likes of Rashid Khan and Trent Boult, who have also been pre-signed by the franchise, along with Nuwan Thushara and Chris Benjamin, as announced by the franchise.
Stokes is currently sidelined with a hamstring tear putting him out of the Northern Superchargers' campaign at The Hundred. The ECB has said in a statement that Stokes is aiming to return for the Test tour of Pakistan, which will start in Multan on October 7.
Thushara and Benjamin, who featured for MI Cape Town in the previous season, have been retained and will join a strong core of domestic talent led by the likes of Kagiso Rabada.
The SA20 franchises have been targeting top Test players from England for the third edition in 2025 after many of them were busy with the tour of India during the 2024 season. Joe Root has been signed by Paarl Royals, Pretoria Capitals have Ollie Pope, Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes have gone to Joburg Super Kings and Durban's Super Giants respectively, while Zak Crawley has been acquired by Sunrisers Eastern Cape, who have won both editions of the competition.
England are down to play both T20I and ODI series in India at the start of next year, but both their winter Test tours - to Pakistan in October and New Zealand in December - will be over before Christmas. Therefore, players not involved in the limited-overs games in India will be available to play full seasons at the ILT20 and SA20. The 2025 edition of the SA20 runs from January 9 to February 8.
Remember, he sustained ahamstring tear putting him out of the Northern Superchargers' campaign at The Hundred. The ECB has said in a statement that Stokes is aiming to return for the Test tour of Pakistan, which will start in Multan on October 7.
- Ben Stokes
