JSK players during photoshoot (Source: @JSKSA20/X)
The 4th edition of the SA20 league (SA20 2025-26) is here. The tournament is arguably the second-best franchise cricket league around the globe, and it’s mainly due to the IPL franchises and the atmosphere that builds up during the game in South Africa.
Joburg Super Kings (JSK) has played well in all three editions till now, but they’re yet to lift the SA20 trophy. They lost in the semi-finals of the first edition against the Sunrisers, then they lost to the Durban Super Giants in the second qualifier in 2024, and last season, they lost in the Eliminator.
So, they’ve come close, but the trophy has evaded them on all three occasions. This time around, JSK has a good-looking squad with a good balance of youth and experience. Let’s talk about their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and possible threats.
JSK squad for SA20 2025-26
Faf du Plessis, Donovan Ferreira, Nandre Burger, Rilee Rossouw, Wiaan Mulder, Janco Smit, Steve Stolk, Matthew de Villiers, Jarren Bacher, Dian Forrester, Shubham Ranjane, Prenelan Subrayen, Imran Tahir, Rivaldo Moonsamy, Daniel Worrall, James Vince, Reece Topley, Akeal Hosein, Duan Jansen, Richard Gleeson, and Neil Timmers.
Strengths of JSK in SA20 2025-26
1. Good squad depth
The Joburg Super Kings have a pretty good squad depth in their squad for the upcoming season. They can bat deep and have a strong and balanced bowling attack. Most of the players are quite young, and JSK will excel if they can play fearlessly.
- Experienced opening options in Faf du Plessis, Rilee Rossouw, and James Vince.
- Wiaan Mulder, Donovan Ferreira, and Shubham Ranjane provide stability with both bat and ball.
- Exuberance of youth in Steve Stolk, Matthew de Villiers, and Dian Forrester with the bat.
- Akeal Hosein, Prenelan Subrayen, and Imran Tahir form a strong spin attack. Hosein and Subrayen can bat too.
- Strong pace attack in Daniel Worrall, Reece Topley, Nandre Burger, and Richard Gleeson.
2. Excellent blend of youth and experience
The likes of Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Rilee Rossouw, James Vince, Daniel Worrall, Reece Topley, and Richard Gleeson are very experienced players, and these guys alongside the young guns like Matthew de Villiers, Steve Stolk, Neil Timmers, Dian Forrester, Duan Jansen, Janco Smit, Rivaldo Moonsamy, and Jarren Bacher make an excellent blend of youth and experience for JSK.
Young JSK all-rounder Dian Forrester (Source: @JSKSA20/X)
The likes of Donovan Ferreira, Nandre Burger, and Akeal Hosein are young, but both are very experienced in T20 leagues around the globe. This allows the Super Kings to be pretty flexible with their combinations depending on opposition and conditions.
Weaknesses of JSK in SA20 2025-26
1. Inexperienced middle order
With so many young players, JSK’s middle order looks inexperienced, and they will be tested in the SA20, especially in crunch situations. The likes of Steve Stolk, Matthew de Villiers, and Dian Forrester.
JSK can play Rossouw at 4 and Mulder at 5, but with that also, then the middle order will rely heavily on only these two, followed by Donovan Ferreira. So inexperience in the middle order will be a challenge for the Joburg Super Kings in SA20 2025-26.
2. The wicket-keeping conundrum
Initially JSK had signed Brandon King, who can keep wickets, but he’s not available for them. After him, Donovan Ferreira, Rivaldo Moonsamy, and Neil Timmers can keep wickets in the current squad.
But Ferreira has been used as a proper bowler by JSK, and he’s a gun in the field, so they’d avoid losing out on his skillset by making him keep wickets. And if JSK opts to play one of Timmers or Moonsamy as their wicket-keeper batter, then they’ll have to replace him with a batter like Stolk or De Villiers, so it can be a tricky situation for them to decide.
Opportunities
1. A shot at their maiden SA20 title
Apart from the couple of concerns, JSK’s squad looks good with strong depth in both batting and bowling. They have an experienced captain in Faf du Plessis, and if their young guns perform as expected from them, then they’ll be a force to reckon with. Overall, they have a good shot at their maiden SA20 title this time around.
2. A young domestic core
As mentioned earlier, JSK has many young players in their ranks. And if they do well this season, then they’ll have a strong domestic core of players for years to come.
The likes of Matthew de Villiers, Rivaldo Moonsamy, Steve Stolk, Dian Forrester, Jorich van Schalwyk, and Jarren Bacher cover up most of the bases for the franchise, and they, alongside Ferreira, Burger, Akeal, and others, have a great opportunity to form a strong core for the Joburg Super Kings.
Not to mention that it’s a great opportunity for all these players to showcase their skills to the world, which will be beneficial for their respective cricketing careers.
Threats
Lack of solid a domestic pacers
A big concern for the Super Kings will be the lack of a solid domestic fast bowler apart from Nandre Burger. They have the likes of Richard Gleeson, Daniel Worrall, and Reece Topley, who are all overseas players.
While they can afford to play all of them thanks to their domestic heavy batting unit, it’s still a possible threat for them, as most of them are injury-prone and all are 30+. Wiaan Mulder is there, but he’s not an out-and-out fast bowler.
JSK probable XI for SA20 2025-26
Faf du Plessis (c), Neil Timmer/Rivaldo Moonsamy (wk), Steve Stolk, Rilee Rossouw, Matthew de Villiers, Wiaan Mulder, Donovan Ferreira, Dian Forrester, Akeal Hosein, Nandre Burger, Richard Gleeson/Daniel Worrall
It’ll hurt JSK big time if one of them gets injured or is unfit. And all these bowlers being overseas means they’ll have to be smart with their team selection, particularly the overseas players.
So, this was the SWOT analysis for the Joburg Super Kings for SA20 2025-26. Overall, they have a pretty exciting squad with plenty of young players who have caught the eyes of the fans from all around the world. They have covered almost all the bases and have plenty of options to play around with their combination.
Expected Finish: JSK should qualify for the play-offs.
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