In the latest development, young South African batters Dewald Brevis and Tristan Stubbs have shown their interest in becoming overseas players in the upcoming second season of The Hundred.
The promising duo, who made their Indian Premier League debut for the five-time champions Mumbai Indians in the recently-concluded season, are among the 257 cricketers who have thrown their hat in the ring for the 'wildcard' draft for overseas players' slots in The Hundred.
The draft, which is scheduled to take place on Thursday, June 09, will see each of the eight franchises pick a fourth overseas player to the squad they'd picked during the original draft held in April.
Brevis, 19, turned heads with his swashbuckling and fearless display at the recent ICC Under-19 World Cup in the Caribbean Islands.
Although South Africa failed to progress to the knockouts, Brevis, nicknamed 'Baby AB', managed to capture the imagination of the cricketing world as he broke Shikhar Dhawan's record for most runs in a single edition of the tournament.
He was later picked by the Mumbai Indians for a staggering sum of INR 3 Crore despite registering himself at a base price of Rs 20 Lakh.
Brevis lived up to the expectations as he smashed 161 runs in seven outings at a blistering strike rate of 142.47. He, along with Tilak Varma and Tim David were the standouts for Mumbai in what was a disastrous season for the former champions.
Stubbs, on the other hand, was one of the standouts in CSA's T20 Challenge, and while he could manage just 2 runs in as many outings for MI, he has been picked in South Africa's squad for the upcoming 5-match T20I series against India, starting later this week.
The 'wildcard' overseas players will each be paid £50,000. However, each team will still be allowed to slot in just three overseas players in their starting XI.
In addition to Brevis and Stubbs, the majority of players who went unsold in the main draft have also put their name forward for the 'wildcard' draft.
The list includes players like David Warner, Shabab Khan, Babar Azam, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman. Meanwhile, players like Evin Lewis, Marnus Labuschagne, Shimron Hetmyer, and Imran Tahir - who weren't a part of the initial draft - are also a part of the 'wildcard' draft.