A new chapter in South African cricket will be written when the SA20 League begins in South Africa from the 10th of January to the 11th of February, 2023. The league is a step forward for South African cricket, who had a dismal ICC Men’s T20 World Cup and will be looking to put the tournament behind them. The SA20 League will provide a platform for budding South African cricketers while also featuring international players from top sides around the world. Each of the six SA20 franchises – MI Cape Town (MICT), Paarl Royals (PR), Pretoria Capitals (PC), Joburg Super Kings (JSK), Durban’s Super Giants (DSG) and Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SEC) will be playing five home and five away matches followed by the knock-out stages, i.e the semi-finals and the finals. The tournament has garnered a lot of media attention not only for being the first T20 franchise league to be organised in South Africa but also for the fact that all six teams are owned by IPL franchise owners. . Cricket fans from India will be geared up to watch how the tournament pans out as MI Cape Town and Paarl Royals battle it out in the tournament opener on the 10th of January, 2023, LIVE & Exclusive on the Viacom 18 Network.
Speaking exclusively on an interview with the SA20 League, South African cricketers Quinton De Kock and Keshav Maharaj spoke on the excitement of such a major tournament in South Africa and how beneficial it will be for cricketers playing in the league. Quinton De Kock said “Pretty much it’s a new tournament, so, I guess looking forward to the unexpected, we’ve had a couple of these tournament, and there hasn’t been one in a while. Obviously, it’s a quite big event, I think this would be one of the bigger events in the local franchise system. A lot of youngsters who haven’t been part of the big tournament will be involved in this, so it will be good for the new guys and obviously for the guys who’ve been around in serving cricket. This is also new for us, so, this would be amazing another new comp, so I can’t wait.”
Keshav Maharaj said “I’m looking forward to obviously rubbing shoulders with some new faces, learning more about the game from some T20 specialist, but most importantly making new friendships on and off the field and yeah playing in my hometown, most especially Durban.”
The tournament will provide an opportunity for South African players to learn from some of the best in the world in T20 cricket and it will be an opportunity for young players to show their dexterity and skills on a bigger platform. Quinton De Kock said “I’ve played with everyone, I know what I’m dealing with, and so, I know the boys are going to have a lot of fun with the children, with the fisherman as well. So I know that what I’m dealing with, so it’s pretty easy for me.”
Keshav Maharaj also spoke on who he is most looking forward to playing with, he said “Well, Quinton played with pretty much everyone, I’m looking forward to playing with Kyle Mayers and Jason Holder, having seen what they did in this last Caribbean League, it’s actually quite exciting, bringing some proper flair and some interesting cricketing shots, so looking forward to that yeah.”
