South African cricket great AB De Villiers hoped the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) would allow more Indian players to be a part of the SA20 in the future to grow the league.
Former India wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik will be part of this year’s SA20 and De Villiers was elated to have the Indian in the hut.
“I would love to see more Indian players involved. We know Dinesh Karthik will be here this year which is fantastic and it’s great for the tournament. And hopefully the BCCI will allow us to get more Indian players in the future to come and join the fun of the SA20,”
At the same time De Villiers is well aware the BCCI will not make current Indian players available for overseas leagues anytime soon.
The Proteas legend feels the best way to keep a league ahead of its rivals is to attract the best players in the world and the best in their country.
“We (SA20) can just keep growing with regards to the overseas players. That’s a large part of the success of the IPL over the years and I’ve followed the IPL since 2008. It’s every year the overseas contingents seem to get stronger and stronger.
“You get the best players in the world and the best players in India and that combination makes for great cricket. So I think for Graeme Smith and his team moving forward it’s just to keep pushing hard, as hard as they can (to get the best overseas talent),” De Villiers added.
De Villiers also shared his thoughts on whether South Africa needs to win one ICC title for the popularity of SA20 to grow, similar to India winning the T20 World Cup before the IPL’s rise.
“I think it just worked out like that for India back in the day. I don’t think it has to happen that way around. I actually think the opposite is true. If you have a strong domestic system and Betway SA20 is a strong tournament, you will breed really good cricketers from that tournament, which will ultimately end up in the Proteas side or the national side, which then can take that experience from the SA20 and go and win the World Cup. Obviously, it will be fantastic to have it the other way around, to go out and win an ICC tournament. I don’t see why South Africa shouldn’t be able to do that.”
They made the finals in that last World T20 and also in the finals of the WTC now. So lots of potential, there’s lots of talent, but I do feel the domestic system needs to be strong in order for consistency at the top. So I just think a really good Betway SA20 this year and as long as that can cement itself as a really good domestic tournament globally, that will attract a lot of attention from all corners of the world, then you can take that confidence and experience that the players will pick up in that tournament and go and win an ICC tournament.”
The South African also spoke about how Tristan Stubbs could prove to be a valuable player for the Sunrisers Eastern Cape while sharing his expectations from the youngster.
“Yeah, he’s a wonderful player. I’m a big fan of his, and I follow his cricket. He is entertaining to watch in all formats of the game. I think he’s publicly announced that he enjoys Test cricket the most, which is quite interesting because he looks like your typical white ball player who’s quite aggressive, can hit the ball anywhere and hits the ball a long way and very hard. But I can sort of relate to what he means with that with regard to Test cricket. You’re dictating terms in your own pace, whereas T20s and ODIs sometimes dictate the pace of the game for you, which can be uncomfortable, especially in T20 cricket when you find yourself at the crease, often feeling uncomfortable with regards to the match situation, the required rate, the adrenaline and the hype that’s built up from the crowd.”
