At the SA20 2026 auction, former India captain Sourav Ganguly settled a decades-old score with his on-field rival, Stephen Fleming. Now head coaches for rival franchises, the two legends found themselves in a high-stakes bidding war for one of the most exciting young talents in T20 cricket. Ganguly’s calculated move at the last minute not only secured his team a generational player but also served as a triumphant moment of personal and professional revenge.
A decades-old rivalry between Sourav Ganguly and Stephen Fleming finds new life at the SA20 auction
The fierce auction battle was rooted in a rivalry that dates back to their playing careers. After the auction, in response to question asked by a reporter regarding the bidding war for Dewald Brevis, Ganguly recalled his struggles against Fleming’s New Zealand team, particularly on the green, seaming pitches of New Zealand. He described how the then-New Zealand captain’s tactical genius kept him consistently under pressure.
With a grin, Ganguly, as quoted as saying by the NDTV Sports, revealed, “Till Flem (Fleming) put the paddle down. You know, he got me out too many times when he was captain and we went to New Zealand. On the green, seaming pitches, he had fielders all over, and they kept decking around all the time. So this was an opportunity to beat him, and we went past him.” This personal history fueled Ganguly’s determination as the head coach of the Pretoria Capitals, transforming the SA20 auction from a simple financial transaction into a platform for settling a long-standing score.
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The high-stakes bidding war for a T20 prodigy in SA20 auction
The auction room witnessed a dramatic showdown for young South African star Brevis, who was a top target for both the Joburg Super Kings and the Paarl Royals. When the Paarl Royals finally dropped out at the 10 million rand mark, it appeared as though Fleming’s Joburg team had secured their man.
However, Ganguly, a shrewd strategist, made a bold move. He intervened, entering the bidding with a series of aggressive raises that kept Fleming on the back foot. The intense, back-and-forth exchange ultimately led to Ganguly’s Capitals securing Brevis for a record-breaking 16.5 million rand (approximately INR 8.31 crore). This record purchase not only gave the Capitals a much-needed powerhouse talent, Brevis has been in red-hot form with an explosive strike rate of 186 in T20s this year, but also allowed Ganguly to get the last laugh in his decades-long rivalry with Fleming.
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