The all-Indian ownership at SA20 has been a key driver in attracting Indian interest and viewership towards the competition from the first edition itself. It went to another level with Dinesh Karthik becoming the first Indian player in history to play in the SA20 earlier this year, for the Paarl Royals and league commissioner Graeme Smith was hopeful of more Indian participation in the coming years while not compromising on the quality of cricket on display.
"Firstly, we would love to have more Indian players [in SA20]," Smith said at the SA20 event in Mumbai last week. "I think whenever India play in South Africa, you can see the love for the Indian team. The talent is incredible. I think we will continue to work with the BCCI on these things. And I think if that ever changes with the six IPL franchises, I think we're perfectly suited to be able to attract Indian players," Smith added.
As per the BCCI mandate, the active players - contracted or not - are barred for participation in overseas T20 leagues to maintain the exclusivity of the IPL and hence, the players, who have played in the tournaments such as SA20, ILT20 and even the T10 leagues, etc. have been all those, who have retired from all Indian cricket.
There were as many as 13 Indian players registering for the SA20 auction earlier this year, but none got shortlisted in the final draft. R Ashwin's decision to retire from IPL came a few days after the SA20 auction shortlist and hence, couldn't register his name and Smith mentioned that the Dinesh Karthik deal happened between the franchise and the player directly and hoped for more such established names to be available, who still have enough to give something.
"Those type of contracts with Dinesh signing with Paarl Royals is always a direct deal between the franchise [and the player]. And I think, obviously, with retired players and more retired players coming, it's a balance between attracting that retired Indian player but still keeping your league competitive. And our franchises really want to win, as you've experienced in IPL and in SA20. So they're always looking for the best players who can perform consistently," Smith added.
While Ashwin was scheduled to play for the Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League before suffering a knee injury, Karthik will be plying his trade in the ILT20 this time around, playing for the Sharjah Warriorz.