[Exclusive] ‘IPL franchise bring a lot of their resources, expertise’ - Paul Adams on Indian franchises owning SA20 teams

All six SA20 franchises are owned by IPL teams, namely Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Lucknow Super Giants, Rajasthan Royals, Pretoria Capitals and two-time champions Sunrisers Hyderabad. Since its inception, SA20 has been a major success in terms of viewership, revenue, fan experience and most importantly, the quality of cricket has improved significantly. Courtesy of the same, South Africa also reached the finals of the T20 World Cup 2024.

Speaking on the same, former cricketer Paul Adams noted the importance of resources and expertise each IPL teams bring in SA20. He highlighted that each city has been given an identity and the vibe during the tournament is amazing. He also talked about the increase in the number of viewership and added the quality of professionals who work in the tournament. 

“Having IPL teams as part of ownership, they bring a lot of their resources as well as expertise. You can see it clearly in terms of how they create fan engagement, creating their own identity within each city. And it's been absolutely amazing how quickly people have really latched on to their home cities and just created this whole vibe. You can clearly see it from the viewership as well as the quality of professionals that have come over,” Adams said while answering CricTracker’s query.

The 47-year-old also shared his experience of being associated with SA20. The Cape Town-born mentioned that the players are magnificent and also underlined the vibes and buzz around the tournament. He also believes that the tournament injects plenty of positivity in South African cricket.

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“It's been really great. I think the energy around the tournament and also the quality of the players has been absolutely magnificent. You can feel that, when you're at the grounds, when you're around, when the tournament's on, there's quite a bit of a buzz about it. I think it will inject a lot of positivity within cricket in general in South Africa,” Adams said.