The player auction for the fifth season of South Africa's SA20 League took place on 7 October 2026. The fate of a total of 19 players was to be decided in this auction, which was limited to just one hour. The most expensive player of this short auction became South Africa's 18-year-old rising star Jason Rolls, for whom Joburg Super Kings spent a huge amount of Rs 1.68 crore to include in the team. This young player, who made a splash with his amazing all-round performance in Under-19 cricket, is being considered as the future superstar. This was the reason that there was a competition among the franchises to get him in their fold and the excitement of the auction reached the seventh sky.
James Rolls sold for Rs 1.68 crore
There was a tough fight between Joburg Super Kings (JSK) and MI Cape Town to buy 18-year-old rising all-rounder James Rolls in the SA20 auction. As soon as the name of this young player came up in the auction, both the teams started placing bids continuously, due to which his price increased very rapidly. In the end, MI Cape Town backed out and Joburg Super Kings included James Rolls in their team by making a big bid of 2.9 million Rand (about Rs 1.68 crore).
ππππ!!! π¨ β° 18-year-old, Jason Rowles is up! Oh boy, MI Cape Town and Joburg Super Kings go all-in to secure the youngster. He'll be staying in Joburg though as JSK secure his services for R2.9 million β the highest of the evening so far π° β° β°#BetwaySA20Auctionpic.twitter.com/6IT8WqZ1cc
β Betway SA20 (@SA20_League) October 7, 2026
Faf du Plessis also becomes part of Joburg Super Kings
Interestingly, just before James Rolls, Joburg Super Kings had also placed a bet on former South African captain Faf du Plessis, who had retired from international cricket. JSK brought Du Plessis back into their team for Rs 1.57 crore (2.7 million rand). With the arrival of these two big players, the squad of Super Kings looks very balanced and strong for the upcoming season.
JSK picked 6 Players in the auction
1.Faf Du Plessis
2. Andries Gous (WK) βοΈ
3. Blessing Muzarabani βοΈ
4.Jason Rowles(U23)
5. Dayaan Galiem
6. Kieron PollardβοΈ#SA20pic.twitter.com/HYhLPwWuAZβ CSK Core (@CSKCore) October 7, 2026
James Rolls' amazing journey so far
This 18-year-old African spin all-rounder has just started in domestic cricket, but he has left a deep impression in his short career. James Rolls has played 5 List-A (domestic ODI) matches so far, in which he has scored 109 runs at an average of 21.80. During this period, he has also scored one brilliant half-century. While showing the power of his spin bowling, he has also taken 3 wickets.
Base price: 200k
Winning bid: 2.9M βSouth Africa's 18-year-old Jason Rowles sparks a bidding war and bags a big-money deal #CricketTwitterpic.twitter.com/lF957DqL8j
β Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) October 7, 2026
Talking about T20 format, Rolls has got a chance to play only 1 match so far, but he made a splash in this only match. In this match, along with playing an excellent inning of 45 runs, he also took 1 wicket. Seeing his all-round performance and ability in both batting and bowling departments, cricket experts are considering him as a big superstar of the future.
Also read: These are the top-5 Indians who have scored the most T20 International runs on Ranchi ground, former captain is at number one.