{"id":12228,"date":"2025-09-12T12:01:57","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T12:01:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/12\/pressure-will-be-on-sourav-ganguly-but-knowing-him-he-will-allan-donald-confident-about-pretoria-capitals-new-leadership-cricket-news\/"},"modified":"2025-09-12T12:01:57","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T12:01:57","slug":"pressure-will-be-on-sourav-ganguly-but-knowing-him-he-will-allan-donald-confident-about-pretoria-capitals-new-leadership-cricket-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/12\/pressure-will-be-on-sourav-ganguly-but-knowing-him-he-will-allan-donald-confident-about-pretoria-capitals-new-leadership-cricket-news\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Pressure Will Be On Sourav Ganguly But Knowing Him, He Will\u2026’: Allan Donald Confident About Pretoria Capitals’ New Leadership | Cricket News"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Last Updated:<\/span>

Allan Donald backs Sourav Ganguly\u2019s leadership at Pretoria Capitals, hailing SA20\u2019s auction drama, fresh talent, and the league\u2019s power to revive careers.<\/h2>\n
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Allan Donald (L) speaks on Sourav Ganguly’s coaching prospects at SA20. <\/p>\n

(PC: SA20)<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

South Africa\u2019s burgeoning franchise league has never felt more electric. When the six franchises converged in Johannesburg on September 9 for the SA20 Season 4 auction, R228 million worth of bids lit up the venue.<\/p>\n

Record-breaking figures dominated the headlines\u2014Dewald Brevis snapped up by Pretoria Capitals for a staggering R16.5 million, while Durban Super Giants grabbed Aiden Markram at R14 million\u2014yet it was the strategic nuances that drew former South Africa international Allan Donald\u2019s eye.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a tremendous variety of options covered,” Donald tells News18 CricketNext<\/em><\/strong> during a select media interaction, citing champions MI Cape Town\u2019s acquisitions of Nicholas Pooran [pre-signing], Rassie van der Dussen, Reeza Hendricks and Tom Moores. For Donald, depth of choice proves as vital as marquee signings.<\/p>\n

Yet Pretoria Capitals emerged as auction protagonists. Under newly appointed head coach Sourav Ganguly\u2019s guiding hand, they invested heavily in spin and seam alike\u2014Keshav Maharaj for R1.7 million, Lungi Ngidi at R2.3 million\u2014before unleashing the Brevis bombshell.<\/p>\n

\u201cWatching Saurav in the middle of that table, drawing advice from former captains\u2026 he drafted extremely well.” Donald notes of a squad blending T20 veterans like Andre Russell, Will Jacks and Sherfane Rutherford with exciting youngsters like Bryce Parsons, the 21-year-old picked for R1.9 million.<\/p>\n

Even before the auction began, Pretoria Capitals\u2019 decision to enlist Ganguly signalled a strategic shift. And Donald knows Ganguly is worth the hype. \u201cHe was our captain at Pune Warriors way back in the day. Fantastic cricket brain.”<\/p>\n

And Donald believes Ganguly\u2019s return to South African shores will reshape the Capitals\u2019 approach. \u201cAnd there\u2019s no doubt that he will bring that experience to the fore with Pretoria Capitals looking, you know, it\u2019s almost like a brand-new management team, you know, that he\u2019s brought in. So, there\u2019s no doubt that he will bring that to the table.”<\/p>\n

Off the field, Pretoria\u2019s supporters have long been among the most passionate in the country. SuperSport Park regularly reverberates with chants and cheers, and Donald expects nothing less this season. \u201cIt\u2019s such a great fan base as well. They\u2019re up there in Pretoria at Super Sport Park. They\u2019ve got, it\u2019s one of the most well supported grounds and we we are going to see full houses. I think the people of Pretoria are expecting and expecting a lot. So, the pressure will be on, Sourav for sure. But knowing him, he will come with a with a great plan.”<\/p>\n

However, it isn\u2019t only big wallets that matter. Donald highlights how last season\u2019s domestic T20 exposed under-the-radar talents and how they made their mark in SA20. Ruben Hermann, George Linde, and Lutho Sipamla, among others, turned heads last season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think also what the domestic T20 competition has done last year to expose, like you mentioned, Ruben Hermann, and his brother, then there is Matthew Breetzke. So, the domestic competition has done to expose them and then obviously getting drafted up to SA20. Now there\u2019s a youngster from nowhere\u2014a Jacques Snyman type\u2014who gets a shot at MI Cape Town and can blow the doors off.”<\/p>\n

As the countdown to December 26 begins, SA20 stands poised for cricket\u2019s next wave: the youth shouting for opportunities and seasoned campaigners rebounding.<\/p>\n

For Donald, the league\u2019s true triumph lies in offering lifelines. Whether it\u2019s a player like Delano Potgieter transforming from near-immigration to international prospect, or Sipamla turning a Super Kings \u2018injury\u2019 call-up into T20 success.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guy [Potgieter] was literally a couple of years ago, thinking of immigrating to Australia to go make his home there and his wife\u2019s a teacher and all of a sudden he gets a season of his life you\u2019ll never forget for Mumbai Cape Town and that puts him right up there. Now he\u2019s in the CPL, he\u2019s playing in the Major League in America all of a sudden. And that is exactly what you want. That\u2019s a great story. And now he\u2019s obviously being talked about as as a potential all-rounder who could get into the the World Cup squad potentially, I\u2019m not saying is, but potentially he\u2019s now knocking the door down,” says Donald.<\/p>\n

\u201cSA20 is about giving players another lifeline,” Donald concludes. \u201cIt\u2019s highlighting talent, revitalising careers and laying the foundations for South Africa\u2019s future on the global stage.”<\/p>\n

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Vineet Ramakrishnan<\/a><\/p>\n

Vineet R, an accomplished sports journalist with over 13 years of experience in digital media, currently serves as the Associate Editor – Sports at CricketNext and News18 Sports. With a specialization in cricke…Read More<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Vineet R, an accomplished sports journalist with over 13 years of experience in digital media, currently serves as the Associate Editor – Sports at CricketNext and News18 Sports. With a specialization in cricke… Read More<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

First Published:<\/span><\/p>\n
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September 12, 2025, 17:17 IST<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

News<\/a> cricket<\/a> ‘Pressure Will Be On Sourav Ganguly But Knowing Him, He Will\u2026’: Allan Donald Confident About Pretoria Capitals’ New Leadership<\/span><\/div>\n
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Last Updated:September 12, 2025, 17:17 IST Allan Donald backs Sourav Ganguly\u2019s leadership at Pretoria Capitals, hailing SA20\u2019s auction drama, fresh talent, and the league\u2019s power to revive careers. Allan Donald (L) speaks on Sourav Ganguly’s coaching prospects at SA20. (PC: SA20) South Africa\u2019s burgeoning franchise league has never felt more electric. When the six franchises…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12229,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cricket"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12228\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}