JOHANNESBURG: Over the past week or so, several Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise owners have expanded their global footprint. Mumbai Indians, cricket's answer to the City Football Group, picked up a 49% share of the Oval Invincibles, a side in The Hundred. Sun Group, who owns Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL, picked up a 100% stake in Northern Superchargers, another side in the same tournament.
Watching on from afar was Graeme Smith, SA20's commissioner. Of course, South Africa's premier T20 competition is no stranger to Indian ownership. All the six teams in the league have significant Indian interest.
When the league first opened its doors to foreign investment, did the former South African captain feel the need to balance investment while retaining local culture? "In the beginning, may be I was a little nervous about how they would be received," Smith told select media during the recently concluded third edition of the event. "But I look at it differently. We got six franchises that are equally competitive. They look after the players well, they grow talent and they want to win. They also bring a level of excellence to South African cricket so that means bringing in the best coaches and physios... may be that wasn't the case before.
"This kind of professionalism," Smith said, "is benefitting our game. They have also really made an effort to understand the culture and the people."
The 44-year-old, who featured in the IPL for Pune Warriors and Rajasthan Royals, said that getting IPL owners on board was one of the reasons why South Africa's latest effort (their two earlier iterations failed) at creating a sustainable T20 league hit the jackpot. "Went with an entirely different model than what Cricket South Africa had tried in the past," the commissioner said. "We wanted to attract really competitive franchise ownership and we were fortunate that IPL franchises were looking to grow at the time so we managed to attract... in franchise cricket, the best around the world. They are experienced at running cricket and all want to win. They are equally competitive and brilliant at managing their own systems and teams. It's been a huge asset."
When a similar question (reason why SA20 has taken off when compared to its predecessors) was put to AB de Villiers -- a part of the commentary team for the tournament -- he said it had everything to do with Smith's 'leadership' and his 'networking' abilities. "I have said this so many times," De Villiers told select media during the tournament's final week. "Smith has played a big role in this, networking, connections and leadership qualities he has got... understanding that there's a friendship between India and South Africa. Could have gone the ego route or we could have friends around the world and make things bigger and better. I think that's probably the main reason. Graeme has played the game before, he understands what a tournament should look like."
This tournament, Smith claimed, contributed 4 million ZAR (South African rand) to the economy last year. I think they (Indian ownership) have been amazing," he said. "Just look at the fans in the stadia. I don't think I ever would have thought that I would be in a stadium in PE that was all Orange (Sunrisers Eastern Cape play their home games in Port Elizabeth) or a stadium in Johannesburg all Yellow (home of Joburg Super Kings). Those things have blown my mind. People have really got behind their local teams. The other thing is that this has been enormous for our economy. It brough 4 million rand to the economy last year and created 8,500 jobs. The ecosystem of the SA20 has created that opportunity."
This kind of ownership model has attracted flak, and continues to attract flak, especially in the world of professional football. In cricket, though, it seems to be the way of the future.
IPL owners in the SA20
Chennai Super Kings -- Joburg Super Kings
Delhi Capitals --- Pretoria Capitals
Sunrisers Hyderabad --- Sunrisers Eastern Cape
Lucknow Super Giants --- Durban's Super Giants
Mumbai Indians --- Mumbai Indians Cape Town
Rajasthan Royals --- Paarl Royals