Johannesburg, Aug 21 (IANS): The Chennai Super Kings Cricket Limited (CSKCL), which has acquired the Johannesburg franchise in the Cricket South Africa T20 League, on Sunday announced the signing of five players including South Africa's Faf du Plessis and England all-rounder Moeen Ali for the inaugural edition.

Besides Faf and Moeen, the others signed are Maheesh Theekshana (Sri Lanka), Romario Shepherd (West Indies) and Gerald Coetzee (South Africa).

"As per the rules of CSA, we are eligible to take four players from the contracted list of players who are available… one marquee player from South Africa. From the balance three, not more than two can be from one country," said K.S. Viswanathan, CEO of Chennai Super Kings Cricket Limited.

"We have decided to pick Faf, Moeen, Maheesh and Romario as the four players who have been contracted by Cricket South Africa. We are also allowed to take one development player from South Africa. We have decided on Gerald, as recommended by Faf," Viswanathan was quoted as saying in a release.

In the release, the CSKCL boss also gave the reasons for picking the players.

On signing of Faf du Plessis, Viswanathan said, "Faf has been a backbone of Chennai Super Kings in the IPL for the last 10 years. He has been one of the most consistent players for our team. We were not fortunate to pick him during the last auction in the IPL. We were looking for an opportunity and that came up in the CSA T20 League. We are happy that we got Faf back with the Super Kings family."

"It will be a very good opportunity for Faf to come back and do as well as he did for the Chennai Super Kings. His experience as a South African player and captain, knowing the conditions, will be invaluable. I'm sure that with his entry into the team, we should have a good future," he added.

About Moeen Ali, he said, "As far as Moeen is concerned, everybody is aware of his potential as an all-rounder and his skills in white-ball cricket. We are very happy to have retained Moeen."

On Maheesh Theekshana Viswanathan said, "Theekshana is a mystery spinner who has been doing well in white-ball cricket. In South African conditions, a spinner of his caliber will be of great advantage and I'm sure that he will be able to do well there."

On Romario Shepherd he said, "Romario Shepherd is an all-rounder with a lot of promise. He did well for the West Indies in the recently concluded series as well. And we hope that he'll be a good asset for the team in South Africa."

Viswanathan said Coetzee is one of the most consistent upcoming all-rounders from South Africa.

"We heard that he's on the verge of making it to the next level. We're hoping that the all-rounder from South Africa will be a good addition to the team there. I'm sure that with the auction coming up in mid-September, we should be able to pick a good side," he concluded.