SA20 League Aims to Be Second-Best T20 League After IPL, Says Graeme Smith

SA20 Commissioner Graeme Smith is committed to establishing SA20 as the world's second-best T20 league. He mentioned that the Indian Premier League (IPL) remains the top franchise in the T20 cricket league and SA20 can only learn and improve from it.

In an exclusive interview with PTI Bhasha, Smith said "BCCI and IPL have been amazing in supporting us and guiding us in every decision we have made. IPL is the leader in franchise cricket by far, and we can only learn from them." 

The third season of SA20 has now reached the finals in South Africa. The Indian star wicketkeeper batter Dinesh Karthik became the first player to compete in SA20. He played for the Paarl Royals but the team fell short of reaching the finals.

The Paarl Royals played the second qualifier match against the two-time SA20 champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape in Centurion. They set a target of 175 for Sunrisers Eastern Cape. Star batter Tony de Zorzi from SEC took charge to lead his team to the finals.

VIDEO | SA20 commissioner Graeme Smith (@GraemeSmith49) has pledged to make it the second-best league in the world after admitting that the IPL remains the leader of franchise cricket, from where they can "only learn" to get better. Here's what he said:

"BCCI and IPL have been… pic.twitter.com/bfx1xuLdHp

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 7, 2025

Will Indian Players Join SA20 in the Future?

When asked if more Indian players might join SA20 in the future, Smith said he would love to have them if they were available. However, he made it clear that there are no plans for it at the moment.

"We always said that we have worked with the BCCI to see what their views are for the future. South African cricket loves Indian cricketers. It is always a highlight for us to watch the talent of the Indian team whenever they come here to play," Smith said.

"If the Indian players were available, we would love to have them here. But nothing of that sort is in the pipeline. We always have conversations and probably at the IPL time I will be there in India. We have a very good relationship with them. I was lucky that I played a couple of years in the IPL. We won the first edition with Rajasthan Royals in 2008." he added.

SA20 Final: MI Cape Town vs Sunrisers Eastern Cape

The SA20 final between MI Cape Town and Sunrisers will be the league’s 101st match since its launch in January 2023.

Smith said, "When the team told me that the second qualifier was the 100th match, I got a bit emotional because of the amount of hard work that has gone into getting to the SA20 where it is now. I started to reflect on so many things like signing our first employee meeting the team for the first time, the first auction and the performances we have seen over the last three years have been incredible."

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