CSK has been very successful, we are hoping to replicate that with Joburg Super Kings: Albie Morkel

The inaugural SA20 League kicked off on January 10, Tuesday, at Cape Town when MI Cape Town and Paarl Royals squared off. The six teams in the tournament are owned by the Indian Premier League franchises. Joburg Super Kings will lock horns with Durban Super Giants, owned by IPL franchise Lucknow Super Giants, in their campaign opener on January 11, Wednesday, in Durban. 

As Joburg Super Kings, the franchise owned by four-time champions Chennai Super Kings, prepare for their first match, assistant coach and former CSK all-rounder Albie Morkel said that having ties to long-running organizations gives players and coaches confidence in their future success. Ahead of the contest, Morkel spoke in detail about the importance of the tournament in South Africa and anticipated that the inaugural SA20 league would grow to be one of the biggest in the world.

“We have tried to launch a league in South Africa for the last few years but it has not been successful. Associations with teams like these guarantees longevity in terms of the tournament. It gives us players and coaches freedom of mindset that you have a couple of years to build something,” Morkel was quoted as saying by the New Indian Express.

Faf du Plessis, who was a part of the Chennai Super Kings for more than a decade, till the 2021 edition, will be leading Joburg Super Kings at the SA20. Though CSK could not get his services at the IPL 2022 mega auction and he eventually landed in Royal Challengers Bangalore as their captain, they roped him in for the South African tournament. Morkel believes that Du Plessis is the right person to lead the side as he added:

“Chennai Super Kings has a strong culture, it is a team that has been very successful and we are hoping to replicate that in South Africa with Joburg Super Kings.”

I firmly believe that SA20 league in future will be one of the biggest leagues: Morkel

Before starting the coaching role, Morkel participated in a number of T20 competitions. He claimed that the sport is quickly shifting toward franchise-based events, with a number of such leagues springing up throughout the cricket season.

“It is exciting for one, you know, it is not so good for national cricket as you have seen in the last couple of weeks you get guys that are sort of picked just to play in these leagues. Going forward, with all these leagues popping up, guys can start to pick and choose a little bit. I think once the bigger leagues sort of establish themselves and I firmly believe that SA20 league in future will be one of the biggest leagues,” Morkel added.

“I think players will settle down a little bit more playing in all the big leagues. Workload within that is difficult to manage especially if you have players who play in other formats, I don't think it is possible for guys to play all the cricket within that you will see more and more players pick a route where they want to go,” he concluded.

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