In crowded T20 league calendar, AB de Villiers reveals what makes SA20 special

In January 2025, at the very same time, five T20 leagues will be played across the globe. Australia's Big Bash, New Zealand's Super Smash and Bangladesh Premier League, already underway, will continue into the new year. UAE's ILT20 and South Africa's SA20 will kick-start in the first fortnight.

It presents a challenge not just for the league organisers but also the players. Where should they play? What is the motivation - the intensity of the competition? How about the stature of a league itself? Or, the vibe of the team? How much does the location matter? Is it the hefty salaries that go with it? For some, all of them do. Many players, unfairly labelled as T20 'mercenaries', would even zip across the globe to play for different teams in different leagues.

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Every T20 league tries to position itself as the best, the most competitive and lure the best players in the world. Also in that race is SA20 which will get its third season underway from 9 January.

What makes SA20 special and a catch? "First of all, just travelling to South Africa, for people from other places around the world is a joy. I think it's a great country to travel to. There's a wonderful diversity in the landscape. You've got the mountains, the bush belt, the game viewing, you go to the coasts and you have sunny beaches. There's fantastic restaurants, great hospitality, great accommodation," explained SA20 Ambassador AB de Villiers in a group interaction ahead of the season.

"It's already just a nice tour for any player to come from a cricketing perspective. I think the crowds are different to anywhere else in the world, the grounds are built differently. There's a lot of grass embankments at Boland Park, Centurion, at Newlands, St George's Park, Durban's Kingsmead. You don't see that very often around the world. There's a wonderful atmosphere because of that. Over the weekends, you'll see barbecues happening outside the stadium and just a fantastic atmosphere leading to the game. The crowd, attendance, not so much in numbers, but the atmosphere they create, the sing alongs. They bring a different atmosphere to anywhere else in the world," he added.

Most of the players who will be part of the SA20 Season 3 have made their way to respective venues in South Africa. The practices are underway, team bonding activities have begun after the New Year's festivities with the families. Sunrisers Eastern Cape come in as the two-time defending champions, winning both of the first two editions.

AB de Villiers, nicknamed Mr. 360, is stoked to see a bigger tournament than before with plenty of international firepower. Unlike the previous season, there is no clash with the international team's commitments and many of England's top players have made the journey.

He argued that it is the growing availability of foreign talent that suggests which way the tournament is headed. He used IPL's example to illustrate the point.

"I think we can just keep growing with regards to the overseas players. I think that's a large part of the success of the IPL over the years. Every year since 2008, the overseas contingents seem to get stronger and stronger. You get the best players in the world and best players in India and that combination makes for great cricket. So I think for Graeme (Smith, the SA20 Commissioner) and his team, moving forward is just to keep pushing hard, get the best quality players over here."

"I think the group of overseas players that are joining this season is stronger than seasons one and two, so it's tracking in the right direction. And then I would love to see more Indian players involved. We know Dinesh Karthik will be involved this year, which is fantastic, and it's great for the tournament. Hopefully the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) will allow us to get more Indian players in the future to come and join in the fun of SA20," said ABD.

When put on the spot and asked to name the Indians he would love to bring in, he was quick to include Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, his ex-Royal Challengers Bengaluru colleague Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav. However, BCCI's rules bar current India players from playing in overseas leagues. Once they retire, though, players can do as they please - as is the case for Karthik who will play for Paarl Royals. AB de Villier's snap list of retired players for SA20 included Robin Uthappa, Karthik, Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan and Yuzvendra Chahal, who, he joked, "would have no choice."

For now, SA20 gets underway with some of the top talents in the world on Thursday with Sunrisers Eastern Cape taking on MI Cape Town.