RCB in SA20? Allan Donald adds fuel to rumours of the addition of two new teams

United Spirits, owners of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) men’s and women’s teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Women’s Premier League (WPL), will finally open their cricket wings and buy a cricket franchise outside of India.

RCB = Royal Challengers Bloemfontein in SA20?

SA20 ambassador Allan Donald had hinted at two new franchises joining the South African league before the next edition. He further insinuated that RCB could also join the SA20 as well. RCB would continue with their abbreviated name, as they could purchase South African judicial capital and name their team the Royal Challengers Bloemfontein.

“You know, there’s a little rumour going around at the moment. I saw it on Instagram again this morning; could there be two more franchises added? So there was a little guy with a poster of Royal Challengers Bloemfontein. So who knows? I mean, we’ll see what pops up at the end of the year,” Donald said in a virtual media interaction.

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Is RCB falling behind in franchise cricket?

Most of the IPL teams have made their way into other franchise leagues. But RCB hasn’t made the move. In the last week or so, three IPL teams bought franchises in The Hundred, but Bengaluru didn’t even enter the chat, it seems. RCB’s two biggest competitors, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI), have started to rule franchise leagues worldwide.

CSK has the Joburg Super Kings in the SA20 and Texas Super Kings in Major League Cricket (MLC) but doesn’t have a WPL team. MI has spread their wings the most. They have the MI Cape Town in SA20, MI New York in MLC, MI Emirates in ILT20, and recently acquired the Oval Invincibles in The Hundred. They have an WPL team as well.