South Africa T20: Graeme Smith excited to see country’s talent perform

South Africa T20 commissioner Graeme Smith expressed his excitement to see the South African talent perform in the second season of the SA20 tournament, which is modelled on the Indian Premier League (IPL). SA20 is the first T20 league outside India to have IPL owners of all six local franchises.

Set to unfold from January 10 to February 10, this year, the tournament will feature a total of six teams -namely the Durban Super Giants, Joburg Super Kings, MI Cape Town, Paarl Royals, Sunrisers Eastern Cape, and Pretoria Capitals. Sunrisers Eastern Cape won the inaugural season, beating Pretoria Capitals in the final back in February this year.

Ahead of the season, Smith talked about the tournament and said, “I am excited it always gets nervous at this time of the year, a lot of work goes into it. I am excited for a number of reasons, one from cricketing purposes: I think our six teams are looking extremely strong a strong balance of strong South African talent. Some outstanding international players are coming for season two and I think it is even stronger than season one. As League Commissioner, I look at the six teams; they look equally competitive so it looks set up well for exciting contests.”

Talking about the connection between the Indian Premier League franchise and the SA20 League, he said, “There is absolutely an association that the strength of the IPL brands have built up over the last 15 to 16 years. India and South Africa boys have a close relationship from a cricketing perspective; the fans from India have been terrific to the South African team. We hope that the sun rises and that fans all around the world will tune in and watch SA 20,” Smith added.

He said that the tournament aims to be a platform for South African talent to show their potential and improve their chances to feature in the Proteas squad for the T20 World Cup.
“It is a huge platform for the players; it is the last kind of showcase for the local players to put their hand up for selection for the World Cup,” Smith said.