Graeme Smith: Investment of six IPL teams in SA20 a huge advantage for South African cricket and its growth

All six teams at the SA20 League are owned by franchises who field their main teams in the Indian Premier League and Smith said their association has been very beneficial for his country’s cricket.

FILE PHOTO: Graeme Smith said that it is a huge advantage that six IPL teams have invested in SA20. | Photo Credit: AFP

Graeme Smith, the former South Africa captain and the league commissioner of SA20, is looking forward to the third edition of the tournament, which is scheduled to be held from January 9 to February 8 next year.

This time around, former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik will feature in the tournament for Paarl Royals, becoming the first Indian player to play in the SA20. However, Smith believes that it’s important to have a balancing act. “Our teams don’t just want to have people for their names, they want to have people that can come here and perform. So, it’s always a balancing act,” he told  Sportstar during an interaction.

He also shared his thoughts on the Schools SA20 programme and whether the league is looking at a dedicated window, going forward…

This year, SA20 and Cricket South Africa have launched Schools SA20. If you could take us through the programme and what do you plan to achieve from it?

We have been investing in girls’ under-19 camps and coaching at that level, trying to grow the women’s talent pool. But now, we are doing a school programme both for girls and boys, and we are very excited about it. It’s going to be a big, big programme, with over 500 schools participating and the girls and boys featuring over a thousand games.

What we hope is that it will start generating a love for the game of cricket and that will unearth so much new talent. Hopefully, we get a young superstar coming through and playing for South Africa and also on the major stage of SA20.

What prompted you to start this programme?

We are working mostly with Cricket South Africa. So for us, there has been a focus on trying to increase the talent pool. There was nothing happening at schools level in South Africa from an investment point of view into grassroots talent. So, we saw the opportunity.

We want to invest at that level because we see it as a key stepping stone to the future of the game in South Africa. And what we want to see is that through this programme, we can unearth talent, who does well in SA20 and also plays for South Africa. It’s very exciting that we decided to invest in that programme.

After two successful seasons of SA20, what are your expectations from the tournament in the upcoming edition?

Off the field, we are doing exactly what we’ve done well for two seasons now because we were established and we are now seen as probably the biggest league outside India.

I’m very excited at the quality of international players that’s coming this year. We’ve got some great Afghanistan players coming in - Azmatullah Omarzai, Naveen ul Haq, Rashid Khan, just to name a few, and also Mujib (ur Rahman). And then you look at New Zealand, you’ve got (Devon) Conway, Kane Williamson. From England, there are the likes of (Ben) Stokes and (Jonny) Bairstow just to name a few. So, if you look at the teams, the cricket is starting to look very, very strong for season 3.

With quite a few leagues lined up around that time, are you open to having a new window in a bid to avoid a potential clash with other tournaments?

It’s very difficult for us to tell other people what to do. I think what we can do is focus on our own league. We have South Africa’s future tour programmes that happen around us. And this January-February window is our slot in South Africa where we build SA20.

India will be travelling here in November, then it’s Sri Lanka and Pakistan. After the New Year’s Test match, SA20 happens and then it’s the Champions Trophy. So, obviously, it would be better if there wasn’t that competition. But where we are excited is that we’ve built SA20 up against some serious competitors and now we’re the standout league.

So we are very, very excited about that. We have seen that with the players choosing to be here. We’ve seen that with the crowds. We’ve seen that with the eyeballs and the digital growth, that people are very, very interested in SA20.

So for us, with all the pressure of building up against other competitors, we’re very happy with where we sit going into season three.

Dinesh Karthik will be featuring in the SA20 in 2025. Going forward, is the SA20 open to getting more retired Indian cricketers on board?

I think we are very fortunate that we have a good relationship with the BCCI. They have been very helpful in helping us make good decisions around building SA20. We will see Dinesh Karthik this time as he got picked up by the Paarl Royals.

I think where we are different is there have been a few other Indian players that have tried, our teams haven’t selected them. You want to get players that are world-class and at their best and can perform. Our teams don’t just want to have people for their names, they want to have people that can come here and perform. So, it’s always a balancing act.

There’s so much talent in India. If things change in the future, I’m sure there will be a lot of Indian players that would be targeted or seen because of their talent. It’s just an incredible amount of talent that India has in the cricketing landscape. It’s just brilliant.

How has the league benefitted from the IPL sides owning teams?

I think it’s a huge advantage that we have got six IPL teams that grew and invested in South African cricket. They come with so much experience. The amazing thing is that they are just brilliant at what they do.

They’re very competitive, all six of them. They want to win. They want the best teams. They want to do well. And I think that’s hugely important in the league. We equally balance across our six franchises. They’re brilliant with their fans. And they help us as well because they bring in a lot of experience. We’re very, very happy and excited with our six partners in the IPL franchises.

As another season beckons, what are you looking forward to?

Out of everything else, I am super excited for cricket this year. With the top South African talent and the international players we are getting, it’s going to be some outstanding cricket to watch.

As a cricket man, obviously I love the entertainment, the fun around the game, but, just purely on the cricket side, I’ve seen this league now go from strength to strength. Every year, the South African players have gotten stronger and now we are attracting brilliant international players, which then tells me next year is going to be a strong one.