Johannesburg, May 20 (IANS) Former South African skipper Faf du Plessis has credited the SA20 league for providing young players a platform to showcase their talent internationally and gain recognition.

Up to 21 South African players are featuring in the ongoing IPL 2026 season, with 17 of them either retained or bought in the player auction across the 10 teams, and du Plessis highlighted South Africa’s recent successes in ICC tournaments, including their triumph in the World Test Championship at Lord’s last year.

“When it comes to opportunity, you have to credit the SA20. People are finally seeing the depth of the talent pool in South Africa. In the past, you only saw our marquee national players in the IPL – maybe six or seven guys, plus one or two youngsters who came out of nowhere. It was never a high number,” du Plessis told SA20 on his return after a successful broadcasting stint in the IPL.

“With the SA20 being broadcast to the whole world over the last four years, everyone can see there is so much more talent beyond the starting XI. Yes, the national side consists of incredible players, but much like in India and the IPL, there’s a massive group underneath them waiting for an opportunity who are just as dangerous in the T20 format.

“India can pick a second or third-string team because of their depth, and you can now say the same about South Africa. For a long time, I felt the national team was just a couple of injuries away from being knocked out of contention at an ICC event,” he added.

The 41-year-old elaborated by giving the example of the Australian side, explaining how leagues were previously dominated by Australian players and how the global spotlight is slowly shifting towards the Proteas after reaching a couple of white-ball finals and winning the ICC World Test Championship mace.

“For years and years in the IPL, you saw a majority of Australians playing. That was largely because there were – and still are – a lot of Australian coaches, so they naturally gravitated towards their own players. For a long time, Australian cricket was seen as the pinnacle globally, so teams looked up to them. However, South Africa making a couple of white-ball finals over the last few World Cups and winning the World Test Championship has put us back in the global spotlight as a proper cricketing nation.”

Young talents like Connor Esterhuizen and Dian Forrester are already reaping the benefits. Esterhuizen impressed with Pretoria Capitals and earned a spot with Gujarat Titans as a replacement player, while Forrester’s standout performances for Joburg Super Kings in the SA20 landed him a Pakistan Super League contract with Rawalpindi, where he maintained a strike rate of 171.42 and an average of 44.

Du Plessis, who plans to play for JSK in the upcoming SA20, shared his reflections on his IPL commentary stint, emphasising the unique learning experience it offered. “When stepping into a new venture surrounded by commentators who have been doing it for years, you try to find your own label. One of those areas is my recency of playing with the current players.

“Another area I was clear on is that when you’ve captained for a long time, you develop a sense for explaining and reading the game. Obviously, all players can read the game, but from a captaincy point of view, you have to articulate what you are seeing and experiencing – whether to fellow players, coaches, or the press. That isn’t always easy to answer, and you have to learn how to do it.”

He added, “For me, leaning on that experience was a great way to find my own voice in the commentary space, and I really enjoyed it. One major learning curve is realising that speaking normally doesn’t always work in commentary. You have to convey emotion through your voice so the listener can feel the stadium’s atmosphere, even if they can’t see the game. Going through the gears in terms of excitement and living within the game is where I realised I need to do the most work. In commentary, the audience can’t see you, so your tone and pacing are the only ways to transmit that energy.”

–IANS

vi/