The T20 World Cup is just around the corner, and while India, England, and Australia are being talked about as favourites to win the tournament, South Africa is once again flying under the radar. The last few years have witnessed a cricket renaissance. South Africa reached the semi-final of the 2023 ODI World Cup, the final of the T20 World Cup 2024, before it was capped off all too beautifully with a World Test Championship (WTC) triumph at Lord’s in June last year.
Temba Bavuma and Aiden Markram, the two men at the helm of Test, ODI and T20I line-ups, have been going about their business nonchalantly. However, away from the international scene, SA20 continues to play its part. Just as the Indian Premier League (IPL) set the platform for Indian youngsters, the SA20 has done the same for the budding Proteas talent.
This year, each SA20 game is sold out, with players getting the exposure of playing in front of packed crowds around the world, which, in turn, makes them better equipped to deal with pressure. The WTC summit clash win against Australia has finally put the ‘chokers’ tag to rest, and the upcoming T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka offers the side another chance to bring an ICC title home.
Former South Africa wicketkeeper-batter Mark Boucher agreed with the notion that SA20 could help the national side. He cited the example of the IPL and how Virat Kohli had the chance to play alongside the likes of Jacques Kallis, Kevin Pietersen, and others quite early in his career. Not too long ago, Kohli spoke about Boucher’s influence during his early days, recalling how the South African great always intended to help youngsters during his stint with RCB in 2008 and 2009.
“100 per cent. There is no doubt. All the past players are talking about it. Obviously, you’re talking about it in the media, which is fantastic as well. But since we started the SA20, it has given our local players exposure to international players. We saw it happen in the IPL as well. As soon as the IPL youngsters, the likes of Virat Kohli, got exposure to playing with international players and learning from them, their games just went to a different level,” said Boucher while replying to a Hindustan Times query during a select media interaction on Friday afternoon.
“And the depth in Indian cricket is immense. With young talents being put together with some fantastic internationals, I think the standard of cricket is very, very good. Obviously not IPL level, but it’s still very, very good. They’ve been given exposure to the global world, which has then led to them going and playing more global cricket, whether it’s in all these other franchises, as we see that’s happening around the world,” he added.
Boucher further cited the example of Corbin Bosch and how the all-rounder rose through the ranks by making a name for himself in the maiden season of the SA20.
“It’s helped our cricket all in all, not only in T20 cricket, but in one-day cricket and also Test cricket. I just look at one individual, Corbin Bosch. He really had a standout, his first SA20. And then the next thing is playing one-day cricket, and then the next thing is playing Test cricket,” added Boucher.
“So yes, there are players that have been recognised not only in the global sort of sense, but also in South African cricket, who probably would never have been recognised if it wasn’t for their SA20. So to answer your question 100 per cent, it’s been a complete game changer, which needed to happen for the game in our country.”
Can SA20 have a bigger window?
Boucher said that the organisers, including Graeme Smith, the league commissioner, can look to have a larger window for the tournament, but he also warned against the competition going on for months, as it can have a negative impact.
“The window can’t be too long. There’s so many different franchise tournaments going on around the world at the moment. So it’s difficult for me to answer. I don’t know the intricacies about the time that they have to run the tournaments. I think the time that they’re using at the moment is the right time. It’s sort of between holiday time as well. So that’s why you see a lot of crowd support, which is fantastic. And the kids are there, which ultimately is what you want,” said the 49-year-old.
“You don’t want to stretch the tournament for too long and create fatigue amongst the fans. I think they’ve hit it right at the moment. If they’re going to get another two teams, they might have to extend it a touch. But there’s certainly conversations that I know that are happening behind closed doors, but they need to tick every box and I’m sure that they will and they’ll make the right calls eventually,” he added.
He also said the tournament could consider adding two more teams, but it depends on whether more grounds are available across South Africa and whether more IPL teams would be interested in acquiring ownership. It should be noted that all the SA20 teams are currently owned by IPL teams.
“So, if you get another two teams, which I know in the contract, I don’t think that they’re allowed to have two teams until a certain amount of seasons have been played. There are a couple of questions you’ve got to ask yourself. First of all, what are the two venues going to be? Where are those franchises going to be and who are those franchises? Are the IPL owners going to come in and look at maybe taking another two spots? I think if that happens, then yes, the tournament will probably have to run a little bit longer,” he added.
“Are there enough good cricketers in South Africa to fill those two teams? So these are the sort of questions that Graeme has to ask himself, and he has been asking himself because we chat about it quite a bit. I think the IPL is quite long, and it should be because it’s your top franchise tournament in the world. We don’t want to get it that – I don’t think we’re ever trying to compete with the IPL. I think the IPL will always be the tone setters, but we don’t want to go as long as the IPL. I think we’ve maybe looked at the Big Bash, and the Big Bash went on for quite some time. I think they tried to bring it down a bit as well.”
