JOHANNESBURG: When Paarl Royals took on Sunrisers Eastern Cape at the Centurion in the SA20 on Thursday, it was a momentous occasion for the league. In its third edition now, with just one game to go, SA20 has done what South African cricket desperately wanted – sustenance. The T20 Global League and Mzansi Super League tried, and failed. SA20, with its six franchises, backed by Indian Premier League (IPL) team owners, has grown leaps and bounds.
TimesofIndia.com spoke to SA20 league commissioner and former Proteas skipper Graeme Smith on what he described as an “emotional time.”
“It’s actually quite an emotional time. I can’t believe we have our 100th game. If I think about all the work that went in the beginning to get up and running, and to attract six franchises, then to take it so quickly into Season 1, and we are sitting at the back end of Season 3,” said Smith.
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“There’s so many highlights for me: from hundreds to fivers to underdogs winning in the first two years. But the thing that stands out for me is the outstanding cricket. We’ve seen some of the world’s best players, both in South Africa and internationally, playing in our country, which has been terrific. And then also the fans. Bringing fans in India is not an issue, but in South Africa, seeing our fans come back to the game and loving it so much has been exciting,” he went on to elaborate.
For SA20, the first step was getting a local broadcaster and they did so in the form of SuperSport – the largest in the country. Global broadcasters, such as Disney+ Hotstar and Jio in India, have also kept their faith in the South African T20 league’s brand.
The time slot, for the evening game, is 5:30pm local time (9pm IST). This year, the league has an Indian influence on the pitch – in the form of Dinesh Karthik with the Paarl Royals – and in the commentary box with Robin Uthappa.
Smith denied that the SA20 has an over-reliance on India and its market.
“The Indian market is the biggest cricket market in the world. It’s silly. But, I wouldn’t say (that) every decision we make is for the Indian market, because we’ve got full stadiums, we’ve got to attract eyeballs in South Africa. You want to attract commercial partners in the place that your league is happening as well.
“But, you know, we’ve got global ambitions. And if you’ve got global ambitions, you want to grow around the world, and India is one of the key markets. We’re very fortunate with the six IPL franchises. We’re very fortunate with our relationship with Jio and Viacom and all the other partners that we’ve been able to attract. So I think South African cricket, since readmission back into sport, has always had a very special relationship with Indian fans, and they love South African cricketers. And we want to keep that,” added Smith who played three seasons with Rajasthan Royals and one with the now defunct Pune Warriors India in the IPL.
Another challenge for T20 leagues, especially in the current cricket climate, is finding a spot in a packed calendar. SA20 has taken place at the same time as the Big Bash League (BBL in Australia), Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and the Super Smash (in New Zealand).
The next season’s window has already been announced – between December 26, 2025 and January 26, 2026 – right before the T20 World Cup. And Season 5 is due to run between January-February 2027.
“We’ve had that challenge right from the beginning. When we (were) building, Big Bash existed. ILT20 was also ahead of us in their planning, we just really focused on making sure we do our job. Our franchises have been incredible in terms of how they’ve managed players, acquired their talent,” stated the 44-year-old.
“I think the fact that we’ve got a good base of South African cricketers really does help. We’ve seen that the level gets better and better every year for the South African cricketers. I thought this year might be a challenge for the international players, but having said that, we’ve got our best crop of international players.
“What I’m excited about is that we’re attracting the real quality international cricketers. We never wanted to build an exhibition style league. When you chat to the players after the game, they say, ‘the cricket is hard, it’s very competitive, and this is where they want to be’.”
The season will conclude at the Wanderers in Johannesburg with Sunrisers Eastern Cape looking to complete a hat-trick of titles. Standing in their way will be MI Cape Town.
This season has been significantly bowler friendly with the 200-run mark being breached just six times with MICT posting the biggest total at 222/3. All three of the biggest totals this season had come at the Centurion which was spin-friendly on Wednesday and two-paced on Thursday.
Smith wishes there were more edge-of-the-seat games this season. “It’s been very competitive. I think home ground advantage has grown this year. I think the fan loyalty has amazed me this year, like when I’ve arrived in stadiums and seen, you know, the Orange Army (fans of Sunrisers) in PE (Port Elizabeth) and then I go to Durban or yellow in Joburg (Johannesburg) and blue, and it’s actually surprised me how fast people have got behind their teams.
“Almost in the India style where they’re not even cheering the opposition’s success. So that’s been amazing. Yeah, we would have liked maybe one or two closer games in the season, but (theres’ been) some outstanding performances this year.”
With South Africa due to co-host the 2027 ODI World Cup alongside Zimbabwe and Namibia, Smith cited pitches as one aspect that he wishes to improve for the future with the current crop “quite worn.”
As far as the future of the SA20 is concerned, he stressed on the importance of monitoring the global T20 businesses with IPL franchises acquiring stakes in teams in England’s The Hundred. Smith expressed optimism in the SA20 being “the number one choice” outside the IPL and the format getting bigger with T20 being included in the programme for the LA 2028 Olympics.
