' Will reach out to Mahi'- Graeme Smith open to having MS Dhoni in the newly launched league

Former South Africa captain and current SA20 league commissioner, Graeme Smith, has expressed his desire of someday being able to have India legend, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, to take part in the SA20. 

SA 20 is going through its very first season and things are surely looking bright for the newest franchise league in town.

'It's BCCI's prerogative': Graeme Smith open to having Indian players in SA20

The 41-year-old told a select group of journalists."We always work with and respect the BCCI’s decision. The fact that we created a really good working relationship with them. We have been able to talk and learn since they have done numerous such events over the years. It’s a great relationship to have."

On being asked about whether SA20 could experience MS Dhoni playing in it, Graeme seemed more than excited on the prospective.

“Listen it will be amazing to have a player like MS. But one thing we really wanted to build was a young and vibrant and really competitive cricket league. And someone like an MS would of course add a lot of value to our league. He has been able to perform and maintain performance for a very long time in this profession and would bring a level to the league which we will be proud to have. But if there is ever an opportunity I would definitely be reaching out to Mahi," he said.

Meanwhile, he also mentioned how picking teams is not their forte when this correspondent pushed him on the issue of former players like Yuvraj or MSD playing or even mentoring a SA20 franchise.

The former South African skipper iterated, “Look I have got all the respect for all those players. I guess our franchisees are very experienced, they are one of the most successful franchise base in the world. They know how to run the team, they know what type of players they are looking for. And have been successful in recruiting players and deciding how they want to play."

Smith signed off by saying, "So, ultimately it will be upto them to select the team and we don’t get involved in selection. We just create the platform for as many players. And then the teams must decide who they want to pick and who they want to play. But from the perspective of some of the names you mentioned, I mean world-class cricketers and they did magnificent things for India and world. So that would always be something we would look to associate with."

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