As always, it’ll be interesting to see how the old school superstars like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli perform, but I think this youngster for the Rajasthan Royals, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, is the one to watch in the opening few weeks.
He has already shown his ability to power it right from ball one. As a young man, he could become a proper superstar over the course of the tournament and I’m really excited to see how he goes.
The Impact Player rule has been a hot topic of conversation, and it certainly has its pros and cons. It introduces another local player into the game, so that’s a benefit for Indian talent getting exposed at the IPL level, but I think it takes a little bit of the nuance away from captaincy, and the all-rounders are getting upset because it means their roles are less pivotal.
We’ve chosen to stay away from it at this early stage of the Betway SA20 because we’re trying to introduce a whole new audience to the game, and you also don’t want to complicate an already complicated sport for a new fan.
South African cricket found itself needing to develop all-arounders after having them in abundance with players like Lance Klusener, Shaun Pollock and Jacques Kallis. We’re now starting to see guys develop again, like Marco Jansen, who’s an incredible talent.
In India, the fans love high-scoring games, and you probably see that in the TV ratings when it gets near a 200-run chase. After 16 or 17 years of the IPL, they probably have different ambitions to us.
IPL owners bring excellence across the board
Our six franchises are a huge, integral part of the growth of Betway SA20. We were very fortunate to attract six IPL teams of high quality, and they’re the most experienced franchise owners in the world.
They are very competitive, they want to win, and they bring in a level of cricket and business excellence across the board, from coaching to medical care. The IPL franchises have brilliant scouts – the talent they find doesn’t always come through the system.
When you’re trying to rebuild and grow a cricket ecosystem, to have partners like that is amazing. It’s kind of impossible to compete with the IPL, but we’ve been fortunate that they’ve been very open with us, and helped us build the big blocks in the early phases.
We’ve now seen franchise cricket private ownership develop with the six Betway SA20 franchises, the Hundred going through the sales process, and Australia and New Zealand are talking about it. It’s all been led by the IPL. I was there in 2008 and none of us will ever forget that year of cricket. It blew us all away, from the auction to the fanfare of the first ever IPL game, and I was fortunate that we went on to win it with the Rajasthan Royals. That final was incredible, and I think that’s the day that cricket changed forever.
We all love Test cricket, but T20 is the growth format. It’s bringing private ownership into the game and we’re seeing the huge valuations now. People around the globe are taking cricket seriously, it’s got a huge number of eyeballs and it’s growing in all the key markets.
The interesting thing to see now where it can go is over the next four to five years, with private ownership in the game and the 2028 Olympics coming up.
Great to see South African talent leading the way
From the get go, we’ve been able to attract top international talent to the SA20. I’ll never forget Jofra Archer opening the bowling to Jos Buttler in the first ever game. But the moments where I’ve been the really happy are when we’ve seen South African talent really develop. Now we’ve seen youngsters such as Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Kwena Maphaka get picked up, and there are 17 or 18 South African players in the IPL.
Leading the way in terms of international talent at the IPL is a target that we’ve tracked in South Africa, and we’ve seen that number grow over the four years, which is something we’re very happy about.
South Africa is obviously blessed with the right sort of ingredients – weather-wise, people are outdoors, it’s a sporty nation, people are active. It’s kind of in our blood.
It’s about making sure that cricket is a dream for kids. The Betway SA20 is a real opportunity for a real future for talented young cricketers. In my playing days, you had to play for South Africa and be in the top 15 players in your country. Now, with franchise cricket, the opportunity for 60 or 70 players to be on the global platform is huge. Domestic cricket is nice, but it doesn’t really offer a financial future and an opportunity to be seen globally.
Things like SA20 and the Hundred offer new players an opportunity. Like Sooryavanshi, he has come through and suddenly he’s playing in his first IPL game as a 14-year-old and the world is talking about him.
South Africa missing an outstanding bowling threat
There’s so much talent in the South Africa team now and they obviously played well at the World T20, but fell short against New Zealand in the semi-finals. In some ways, being stuck in Ahmedabad was a good and a bad thing for us – I think the surface there suits our style of play, and then we moved to Kolkata against a very good New Zealand team. In T20 cricket no one’s got the right to win, and you’ve got to get it done.
When I look at the South African lineup, there’s a lot of power and batting ability there but it was just a solid bowling attack without having an incredible asset like a Jasprit Bumrah or a Rashid Khan. Sometimes in T20 cricket, just having that outstanding player can really be a game changer.
If you’re batting first in Kolkata, you’re going to need 210 to 220 on those short boundaries and the fast outfield. If you don’t do that, then you’re under pressure.
Stokes and McCullum need a good summer in England
When you’re in leadership, you recognise the key series that are going to make or break you. Obviously, the Ashes went badly for England. They’ve decided to stick with consistency and back the leadership to get it right.
I’ve obviously known Baz for a long time, and he’s a good thinker about the game. The hard part now – and you could see it a little bit at the T20 World Cup – is the hangover from a really bad Ashes series, and the pressure on players and leadership.
The key is always growing and understanding how to take the environment forward, and they’ve obviously had an in-depth conversation behind the scenes and leadership feel that they’ve still got clarity.
The results will define whether that’s a good or bad decision, but as Ben Stokes or Brendon McCullum, you want to have a good summer at home and get some wins under the belt so that the media and the public can get off your back.
In the earlier years of my captaincy, I was young and South African cricket was developing. A lot of systems needed to be built and it was a bit chaotic. But as time goes on, you’ve got to start figuring things out like the culture and the type of cricket you want to play. Hopefully, you’ve got the talent pool to find the players who can play that way.
In Test cricket especially, you need to be building squads that can do well all around the world. We’ve seen teams in the modern game really struggle away from home. In our day, you needed to build an environment that could win in the subcontinent, in Australia, in England and so on.
The thing for Baz is that there is a lot of talent in England, so it’s about how he identifies the key people that he wants to take forward. It’s tough when senior players are struggling, and that’s where those behind-the-scenes conversations become crucial.
I do think it’s really difficult for a coach to do all three formats. Obviously, you want to try and create consistency across the board in terms of messaging and style, but it’s just such a taxing environment, especially for England with the amount of cricket that they play. It’s got to take its toll. I saw the headlines about only arriving just before the series starts, and that became a big news story.
It’s going to be very difficult for Baz to balance his home life and time away from the game to think and be strategic. There’s a lot of pressure in that environment, so he does need time to freshen it up. It will be interesting to see how long he can go at this level.
Disclaimer
Possible11 is a sports news and analysis platform designed purely for entertainment and educational purposes. All match previews, player insights, and team analyses are based on publicly available information and expert opinions. We do not promote or support betting, gambling, or real-money gaming in any form. Users are encouraged to enjoy our content responsibly and use it for informational purposes only.
Give Your Feedback