Only one SA batter has made more than 200 runs and no bowler has taken more than three wickets.
Approaching the midway point of the group stages at the Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament, South African players have barely made an impact, and some will be searching for better form while others will be hoping for more opportunities in the chase for the playoffs.
Though players from around the world have shone with bat and ball in the first half of the popular annual T20 campaign, most of the 17 SA players in the league have either done little to stand out or have not played at all.
As of Tuesday afternoon, 14 players in the tournament had scored more than 200 runs, but Proteas captain Aiden Markram was the only South African to have done so.
Markram had hit 208 runs in seven games for Lucknow Super Giants, at an average of 29.71 and a strike rate of 150.72, including two half-centuries.
Only four other SA players — Heinrich Klaasen (173 runs in six matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad), Ryan Rickelton (149 in six matches for Mumba Indians), Quinton de Kock (141 in six matches for Kolkata Knight riders) and Tristan Stibbs (118 in five matches for Delhi Capitals) — had contributed more than 100 runs for their respective teams.
David Miller (97 for the Super Giants), Faf du Plessis (81 for the Capitals), Marco Jansen (42 for the Punjab Kings) and Wiaan Mulder (nine for Sunrisers) were the only other South Africans to have put any runs on the board.
Bowlers struggling even more
And, if anything, the South African bowlers had made even less of an impact in the group matches thus far.
While eight players in the tournament had already taken 10 wickets or more, no South African bowlers had managed to pick up anything close to double figures.
Jansen had taken three wickets in five matches at an average of 68.00 and an economy rate of 11.33, and he was the top SA bowler, lying 49th in the wicket-taking list.
Kagiso Rabada had taken two wickets from two matches for Gujarat Titans and Markram had one scalp from five overs thus far with the ball.
There was still lots of cricket to be played in the run to the playoffs to be held next month, but seven of the 17 South African players had not yet been given a game this season by their IPL teams.
They included all-rounder Donovan Ferreira (Capitals), fast bowlers Kwena Maphaka (Rajasthan Royals), Gerald Coetzee (Titans), Anrich Nortje (Knight Riders), seamer Lungi Ngidi (Royal Challengers), batter Matthew Breetzke (Super Giants) and all-rounder Corbin Bosch who replaced compatriot Lizaad Williams at the Mumbai Indians after Williams withdrew from the 2025 season due to injury.
