Chris Morris: MICT will be under pressure in SA20 Season 5

Robin Peterson’s side had a campaign to forget the last time out after finishing bottom of the table with only three wins, despite having won the tournament the previous season. 

Morris says being associated with the Mumbai Indians brand alone puts a lot of weight on their shoulders, and they’ll be expected to put together a team that can remain consistent in the competition.

"Yeah look, I think MI Cape Town will look to sign some really good players. We've seen Will Jacks coming out, we know how well he can do with the white ball, he likes playing in South Africa. They also kept their core of players that have done so well for them in the past,” Morris said.

“They'll probably be under a little bit of pressure to get some good signings just because their first two seasons they didn't do well, won their third one, fourth one didn't do well again. 

“So, there's a reputation to uphold because we know how strong the MI brand is and when the team wins one and goes badly the next season, unfortunately you need to build a strong team. So, it will be interesting to see how Roby P goes with his squad when the auction comes."

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Morris believes the retention of their core squad will be of great benefit to MICT, while at the same time urging them to bolster their roster with a bit more experience.

The likes of captain Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Nicholas Pooran, and Ryan Rickelton are some of the big names that have been retained by the franchise, while England’s Will Jacks has been pre-signed.

"I think their co players that they've had that they had success with in season three are still there. You don't become a bad player just because you had a bad tournament as a team. They still got that class, they still got that quality,” he added. “I think another leadership role would be, obviously they'll look to sign someone a little bit experienced. You never know, they might go for FAF du Plessis who's now local in Cape Town, they might go for him just to bring that experience back into the squad, we don't know but it's such a molting part of which players are gonna go where. 

“We always look at these auctions and we always predict who's gonna go where and who  needs what but I think the experience will be needed from MI Cape Town. They obviously have Will Jacks, Rashid Khan is still there, you've got the likes of Rabada, Rickelton, all those big name players that can change the game quite quickly but it takes a squad to win a tournament. 

“So, again Roby P has been around the block, he's a local coach here, coaches The Warriors, he'll know a lot of local players that he'll want to bring into his squad."