By Nikhil Bapat
Hyderabad: The Indian Premier League (IPL) was instrumental in unearthing several fast bowlers for India - be it pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah or Umran Malik from Jammu and Kashmir. Veteran South African pacer Allan Donald expects the SAT20, which is into its third season now, to play a similar role for the Rainbow Nation.
Responding to a query by ETV Bharat during a virtual press conference, Donald, who has 330 Test wickets, said, "That’s exactly why we bring overseas players in—to work with our young fast bowlers and batters. Seeing Richard Gleeson perform so well for (Sunrisers) Eastern Cape and watching Ottniel Baartman bowl alongside him is fantastic."
Allan Donald, who himself was an aggressive pacer, known as White Lightning, said the SAT20 was a wonderful learning ground for any cricketer.
"Players like Marco Jansen are learning the art of bowling at the death from seasoned professionals. SA20 provides a steep learning curve—what a young player can pick up in a month here is equivalent to six months of regular cricket because of the sheer quality of experience in the dressing room. I’ve seen the same in the IPL with RCB. It’s an incredible platform for young cricketers to elevate their game."
"It is just an amazing platform for young batters and bowlers to elevate themselves to do something special. The growth of your learning happens quicker here because you have to think quickly, and make quality decisions, what can I say, it is amazing to be part of it (the league)."
Left-arm pacer Marco Jansen is the leading wicket-taker in the league so far having scalped 17 wickets in 12 matches while Hardus Vilijoen of Joburg Super Kings is at the second spot with 14 wickets from 8 matches.
The final will be played between the MI Cape Town and Sunrisers Eastern Cape on February 8 and the former South African pacer feels that "based purely on form, MI Cape Town would be the favourites to lift the trophy."
"But the boys from the Eastern Cape have peaked at the perfect time," the former right-arm pacer added.
For the record, it was former India coach John Wright, while he was with Mumbai Indians, who spotted the talent of Jasprit Bumrah, who is now one of the best pacers in the world.
Lauding IPL veteran Dinesh Karthik's involvement in the ongoing edition of the league who is playing for Paarl Royals, Donald hoped more players from India would join SA20 in coming years and expressed his desire to see Bumrah and batting maestro Virat Kohli in action in this event.
"Well, you know, it's not for me to decide. Obviously, BCCI is the strongest cricket board in the world. I think it would be great to see younger and more talented guys. You know, you've got your established guys, you've got your Rohit Sharma, who's done it, who's been around for long. If there are some Indian cricketers keen to play in the SA20, wow, it would be amazing. This league would grow and grow exponentially," he added.
"Will we see some more Indian cricketers coming to our shores and be part of SA20? I sat in the first year and I thought this is a massive competition. The second year was even bigger. And this year we're reaching heights greater than what we have seen before. It would be great, there's no doubt about that. If Indian cricketers are available, I'm sure that Graeme Smith and his team would definitely grab that chance," he concluded.
