The Mzansi Super League (MSL) 2021, originally scheduled to be played in February, had to be cancelled amidst Covid-19 concerns in South Africa. A CSA statement said that the new Covid-19 variant Omicron has 'made it difficult to maintain the brand proposition of being the premium international T20 tournament, due to increased travel restrictions as imposed by many nations on South Africa'.
Pholetsi Moseki, CSA's acting CEO, added that the CSA T20 Challenge will be staged instead of the MSL in February: 'For its purposes, the MSL slot will again be replaced by a domestic CSA T20 Challenge, featuring the 8 (eight) Division 1 team and this tournament will take place in February 2022', he said.
The MSL was played in 2018 and 2019, but was called off in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Paarl Rocks are currently the reigning MSL champions, while Lions are the defending domestic T20 champions.