SA20 2025: MI Cape Town Adds Stokes, Boult, Omarzai; Paarl Royals Acquire Mujeeb

MI Cape Town has secured England Test captain Ben Stokes, New Zealand's Trent Boult, and Afghanistan's Azmatullah Omarzai for the upcoming SA20 season. Stokes, who has a remarkable record at Newlands, returns to the ground where he scored an unforgettable 258 against South Africa.

Stokes boasts impressive T20 stats with 3023 runs in 159 matches at an average of 24.77 and a strike rate of 133.23. He has also taken 90 wickets at an average of 30.38. Despite a recent hamstring injury that ruled him out of the home series against Sri Lanka, he is expected to be fit for England's tour of Pakistan in October.

• Retained: Dewald Brevis, Connor Esterhuizen, Thomas Kaber, George Linde, Delano Potgieter, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Rassie van der Dussen, Rashid Khan (Afghanistan), Chris Benjamin (England), Nuwan Thushara (Sri Lanka)
• Pre-signings: Ben Stokes (England), Trent Boult (New Zealand), Azmatullah Omarzai (Afghanistan)

Boult will join Stokes at MI Cape Town. Known as one of the best left-arm bowlers of his era, Boult has been instrumental in New Zealand's success in ICC tournaments. He played in the ODI World Cup finals in 2015 and 2019 and the T20 World Cup final in 2021.

"MI, MI Emirates, MI New York and now MI Cape Town. I'll be donning the Blue-and-Gold colours in the edition of SA20. Playing at the scenic Newlands is going to be special. I know it's going to be Lekker," Boult said in a release from MI Cape Town.

Azmatullah Omarzai will team up with fellow Afghan Rashid Khan at MI Cape Town for the next SA20 season.

Paarl Royals Squad for 2025

• Retained: Keith Dudgeon, Bjorn Fortuin, Kwena Maphaka, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Nqaba Peter, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Mitchell van Buuren, Codi Yusuf
• Pre-signings: Joe Root (England), Dinesh Karthik (India), Jacob Bethell (England), Sam Hain (England), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Afghanistan)

The Paarl Royals have signed Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman for their squad. Mujeeb is well-known on the T20 circuit with his skillful variety and execution. He has played 241 T20 matches and taken 257 wickets with an economy rate of 6.76.

Mujeeb has experience playing for various T20 franchises worldwide including Paarl Royals' sister franchise Barbados Royals in the Caribbean Premier League and also participated in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Mujeeb joins pre-signings like Dinesh Karthik, Joe Root, Jacob Bethell and Sam Hain for Paarl Royals ahead of the new season.

This season promises exciting cricket action with top players joining both MI Cape Town and Paarl Royals squads.