SA T20: Capitals coach Ganguly sees a gamechanger in prize catch Brevis

The SA T20 League auction usually goes under the radar for Indian cricket fans, but it was different this time, with former India skipper Sourav Ganguly appearing in the avatar of head coach of Pretoria Capitals at Johannesburg on Tuesday. The Capitals management, owned by the co-owners of Delhi Capitals, lived up to the billing by roping in explosive batter Dewald Brevis as the highest paid player with a price tag of R16.5 million (Rs 8.3 crore approx).

While franchise leagues all over the world are still a no-go zone for active Indian players, the arrival of 'Dada' has created quite an air of anticipation in South Africa, which is not short of Indian diaspora. It will be the first fulltime coaching responsibility for Ganguly, who was director of cricket for JSW Sports, and the onus will be on him to turn around the fortunes of a below par Capitals last season.  

The arrival of Ganguly, along with Shaun Pollock as assistant coach, has Graeme Smith, now the SA T20 commissioner, excited. Speaking to Hindustan Times a few days ago, the former Proteas captain said: ‘’The quality of coaches across the board is actually exciting. It’s an opportunity for our players to be exposed to some of the great minds in the game. Look, Dada is going to come in and do things his own way.’’

Offering a peek behind Ganguly’s decision, which will need him to camp in South Africa for most of December, Smith revealed: “In and around the World Test Championship final, Dada told me he was going to be coaching this year. He has been involved with the Capitals as director of cricket among other things. Last year, he was approached, even though Jonathan Trott was coaching at the time. We saw Dada on countless occasions in and around the team, learning. For us, it’s exciting to have someone of Dada’s calibre as a coach,” Smith said.

The first player Pretoria snapped up was senior left arm spinner Kehsav Maharaj before winning the bidding war for Brevis, better known as ‘Baby AB’ after the stunning A.B. de Villiers, for a record-breaking sum. Commenting on the signing, Ganguly said: “I hope he does well. I think he is a tremendous talent. His game has really progressed over the last one and a half year, as we saw against Australia. On that tour, he showed he is a gamechanger, and that’s exactly what you need in T20 cricket.

‘’We have (Andre) Russell, Rutherford, who can really step it up and I hope Brevis does the same. I never associate performance with money. Leaving aside the R 16.5 million, I believe he is a fantastic talent. He plays spin very well, which is extremely important and taking everything into account, that’s why he went for that price,’’ he said.

Capitals were engaged in a fierce bidding war with Johannesburg Super Kings, with Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming at the bidding table, but Ganguly pushed hard and landed one of the brightest emerging talents in world cricket. Brevis had already lit up the stage for CSK after being signed as a replacement player in IPL 2025.