After two months and 74 games the 2026 IPL is finally over with Royal Challengers Bengaluru defending the crown they won in 2025 with a convincing five wicket win over the Gujarat Titans on Sunday night.
Although there were plenty of South Africans in the tournament, RCB were one of the few sides who didn’t have any South Africans on their roster.
But that is not to say that the South African contingent at the IPL did badly, indeed, several of our country’s stars were outstanding for their respective teams.
With the tournament now done and dusted, let’s take a moment to look at the report cards of the South Africa players who did duty at the world’s premier event in franchise cricket.
Kagiso Rabada (Gujarat Titans) – 10/10
The undisputed king of the Proteas contingent this season. Rabada spearheaded the Titans’ march to the final, claiming the prestigious Purple Cap by finishing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with 29 scalps from 17 matches.
His opening spells set a ruthless tone for GT all year long. He couldn’t get the better of Virat Kohli in the final but, following a disappointing T20 World Cup at the start of the year, KG genuinely looked back to his potent best for the Titans.
Heinrich Klaasen (Sunrisers Hyderabad) – 9.5/10
Lived up to every cent of his massive retention fee. Klaasen was a monster in the middle order, rewriting records as the first middle-order batsman to hammer 624 runs in a single season, featuring six half-centuries and a devastating strike rate of 160.
He almost single-handedly carried SRH into the playoff rounds. Led the Orange Cap rankings for a considerable part of the tournament.
Corbin Bosch (Mumbai Indians) – 9/10
Bosch struggled initially to get game time in a squad that is laden with stars. But as has been the case throughout his career, when he is called on, Bosch always steps up. Bosch played just six games for MI but he ended the season with a batting average of 50 at a strike rate of 161.29.
His primary role is as a bowler and there he excelled as well with a total of 12 wickets, a best return of 4/26, an average of 16.25, economy rate of 9.66 and a strike rate of 10.0.
Those are some seriously impressive numbers – especially compared to MI’s so-called premier allrounder (and captain) Hardik Pandya who averaged 22.88 with the bat and who took just four wickets at an average of 64.75.
Ryan Rickelton (Mumbai Indians) – 7.5/10
Rickelton briefly took the IPL by storm when he blazed a brilliant 81 in the opening match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Unfortunately, he failed to maintain that early momentum, fading in successive games before ultimately losing his starting XI spot to Quinton de Kock.
However, once QdK and Rohit Sharma were injured Rickelton returned and did some damage. He finished with a highest score of 123*, a total of 448 runs at an average of 40.72.
His strike rate of 186.66 was excellent and with 38 sixes he ended the season with the fifth most sixes in the tournament.
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Tristan Stubbs (Delhi Capitals) – 7/10
A tale of two halves for the young Proteas star. Stubbs started the season in a blaze of glory, producing crucial match-winning knocks like his unbeaten 60 against RCB to anchor DC’s middle order.
While his scoring rate slowed down in the latter half of the tournament, finishing with 275 runs, his execution under immense pressure was highly commendable.
David Miller (Delhi Capitals) – 7/10
‘Killer Miller’ provided his typical calm assurance to the Capitals’ middle order.
While he did not replicate some of his record-shattering seasons of old, his tactical maturity helped secure key points during tight finishes.
Lungi Ngidi (Delhi Capitals) – 7/10
The towering fast bowler was good for Delhi, bowling in 11 innings and taking 13 wickets. His slower ball is the best in the business and even when batsmen know it is coming they struggle to get it away.
He returned best figures of 3/27 and finished with an average of 26.15 and an economy rate of 8.22. It is his worst average in five seasons of IPL cricket, but it is also his most successful wicket-taking season.
Would probably have claimed a few more scalps if he hadn’t injured himself in the field and been sidelined for a few games with concussion.
Quinton de Kock (Mumbai Indians) – 6/10
Despite initially being bench-warmed in favour of local and international combinations, De Kock reminded everyone of his world-class pedigree when given the chance.
In limited outings, he smashed an unbeaten 112*, averaging an elite 66.0 with a scoring rate over 162 to reclaim his spot. An injury brought a premature end to his campaign.
Nandre Burger (Rajasthan Royals) – 6/10
Burger showed glimpses of raw, terrifying pace and steep bounce during the early powerplay overs. However, a lack of consistency in his line and length saw him leak runs on flatter pitches.
He played a total of 13 games and took 14 wickets at an average of 31.42 and with an economy rate of 10.11.
The big plusses for Burger are the fact that he made it through the tournament uninjured and that he got to bowl in tandem with Jofra Archer, one of the best in the business – he will have learned plenty from the big England player.
Aiden Markram (Lucknow Super Giants) – 5/10
A rather subdued campaign by Markram’s lofty international standards. Shuffled up and down the batting order, he managed 193 runs across eight matches without scoring a half-century. His structural anchor play was valued, but LSG missed his explosive capabilities at the death.
The Proteas skipper was not helped by the struggles of his teammates with Nicholas Pooran and Rishabh Pant’s lack of form transferring pressure to players like Markram and Mitch Marsh.
Donovan Ferreira (Rajasthan Royals) – 3/10
Ferreira spent the vast majority of the gruelling two-month campaign running water and signalling tactical changes from the sidelines, as RR preferred alternative explosive finishers in their middle-order puzzle.
Marco Jansen (Punjab Kings) – 3/10
A deeply frustrating season for the talented all-rounder, Jansen failed to fire as he did last season.
The giant allrounder managed just nine wickets from 13 games with an awful average of 53.66. His contributions with the bat were negligible. IPL 2026 is a season Jansen would prefer to forget.
Dewald Brevis (Chennai Super Kings) – 3/10
Moving to CSK held massive promise, but Brevis endured a tournament to forget. Starved of quality time in the middle game time, he played 11 games, batted in eight and managed just 151 runs at an average of 18.87.
Known for his incredible strike-rate and six hitting ability the fact that he cleared the rope just ten times and hit at a rate of 127.96 puts into perspective how disappointing the 2026 campaign was for South Africa’s highest T20I scorer.
George Linde (Lucknow Super Giants) – 2/10
Brought in as an explicit spin option for slower tracks, Linde spent almost the entire tournament trapped on the bench as an unused squad backup.
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