After seeing the popularity of T20 franchise cricket leagues, Cricket South Africa (CSA) decided to start their own premier league, SA20. In total 6 teams and many talented cricketers participated in the first two editions of this tournament. Due to the involvement of IPL teams, fans are calling the South African domestic league, a mini-IPL. Here in this article, we are going to find out how the experience of IPL’s teams helped in the great success of the league.
What Is SA20?
SA20 is a T20 franchise cricket league and it’s inaugural season was played in 2023. Many domestic and international players showed their cricketing skills in the tournament. We have only witnessed two seasons of the South African Premier League and it has already gained much appreciation and love around the world. Here is the overview of the tournament:
| Tournament | SA20 |
| Host | South Africa |
| Administrator | Cricket South Africa |
| Format | T20 |
| Number of Teams | 6 |
| Latest Edition | SA20 2024 |
| Current Champion | Sunrisers Eastern Cape |
| Official Website | thesat20.com |
SA20 and IPL
As we know, six teams participated in the first edition of the SA20. Interestingly, 6 of the 10 teams in the Indian Premier League have bought the SA20 teams. That is the reason why some fans are calling it a mini IPL. The involvement of IPL teams made things more exciting, it attracted the attention of a huge Indian cricket audience.
The IPL has been expanding its global footprint by investing in international cricket leagues. The SA20 is feeling blessed to be backed by the experience and money that IPL teams are bringing along with them. Similar to other famous cricket leagues like IPL, the participating teams of SA20 will be based in different cities of the hosting country and will face each other in a round-robin format,
The owners of the Mumbai Indians placed the highest bid for the team representing Cape Town city and named it MI Cape Town. The owners of Lucknow Super Giants bought the team representing Durban City, naming it Durban Super Giants. The owners of Sunrisers Hyderabad bought the Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) team and named them Sunrisers Eastern Cape.
The owners of Rajasthan Royals showed their interest in the Paarl team and named them Paarl Royals. The Chennai Super Kings Cricket Limited put forward the highest bid in the auction for the Johannesburg team and named them Joburg Super Kings. One of the owners of Delhi Capitals, JSW Sports, bought the team representing Pretoria, naming them Pretoria Capitals.
After the announcement of the launch of SA20, companies around the globe showed excitement about it. The groups that own IPL teams showed the most interest and bought all six teams. You can see the resemblance between the names and logos of the IPL and SA20 teams. The first two editions of the league were successful and that is why Cricket South Africa (CSA) is expected to increase the number of participating teams.
Graeme Smith On IPL And SA20
The former South African captain, Graeme Smith is currently the head of the SA20 tournament. We recently witnessed the Sunrisers Eastern Cape winning their second consecutive title. You can read our other article to know more about the final match of the tournament. It was a successful season, and recently Graeme Smith didn’t forget to thank the involvement of the Indian Premier League for it while interacting with media.
Graeme said that the 6 IPL teams that are investing their money and trust in the South African domestic T20 league are some of the strongest franchises in the cricket world. He also said that these teams brought their expertise that contributed a lot to the overall success of the SA20 tournament. South African fans are hoping that SA20 will help the young domestic cricketers just like IPL has helped the young Indian players prove their worth.
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