“IPL Is A Big Reason Why…”: Graeme Smith On The Impact Of The T20 League. Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith recently revisited India’s first T20I against South Africa and discussed how the IPL has played a significant role in propelling T20 cricket to new heights.
When the first T20I international was played in 2005 between Australia and New Zealand, no one could have predicted that the format would become so popular in ten years and that it would be discussed as the most likely format to bring cricket into the Olympics. T20 cricket is also being considered as a format for spreading the game around the world. Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith recently revisited India’s first T20I against South Africa, and he also discussed how the IPL has played a significant role in propelling T20 cricket to new heights.
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Graeme Smith On The Impact Of The T20 League
“I’m talking about Dinesh Karthik scoring runs and beating us. Those aren’t pleasant memories. We had played a fair amount of international cricket prior to the introduction of T20. Were unsure how this format would work. We probably rested a lot of top players at first. But it was a good time. The energy, the crowd, the enjoyment that came with the game, you could tell right away that the fans loved it “Smith made the remarks on Cricket.com’s YouTube special ‘Dressing Room Stories.’
“I believe it was an opportunity for all of us who were learning how to play to put on our leathers and score as quickly as we could. Who would have predicted in 2006 that T20 cricket would reach its current level? In my opinion, it could not have taken off as quickly as it did. The IPL is a big reason why T20 cricket has reached this level “He continued.
Smith went on to say about the format: “It’s simply incredible. Yes, it is one format that could transition into new cricket regions; there has been a lot of talk about America and what’s going on there.”
The first edition of the IPL was held in 2008, and the tournament has since had 15 editions. The CSA will also launch its inaugural T20 league in January of next year, with Smith serving as commissioner.
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