Including the Proteas seamer, Anrich Nortjé, who was retained by his franchise, the Delhi Capitals, 11 South Africans will play in the IPL.

The only non-Proteas player is the 18-year Dewald Brevis, he will be playing for the Mumbai Indians.

Batter, Rassie van der Dussen, who will play for the Rajasthan Royals, says he in delighted to be bought by the team.

“I've always been a Rajasthan fan ever since the early days when Graeme Smith and those guys played there.

“It's a team that I've always followed and I'm really happy and honoured to represent a prestigious franchise like that.

“There are some world class players in that team right now, so it's a really exciting prospect for me to play with all of those guys.”

The seamer Kagiso Rabada was the top pick of the South Africa contingent and he will be going to play for the Punjab Kings for R18.6 million.

Other South Africans to play are Faf du Plessis (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Quinton de Kock (Lucknow Super Giants), Marco Jansen (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Aiden Markram (Sunrisers Hyderabad), David Miller (Gujarat Titans), Dwaine Pretorius (Chennai Super Kings) and Lungi Ngidi (Delhi Capitals)

Morgan Piek OFM Sport