Graeme Smith opens up on the possibility of signing MS Dhoni for the SA20 League

The ongoing SA20 2023 is producing quite a few nail-biters, and fans are thoroughly enjoying the one-of-its-kind inaugural domestic T20 tournament of South Africa. Apart from the Proteas cricketers, many global stars are part of the six franchises owned by the Indian Premier League (IPL) team owners.

Since the connection with IPL franchises in the SA20, many fans wondered if the T20 competition could rope in the likes of MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina and some other retired Indian internationals. Regarding the same, the SA20 league’s commissioner, Graeme Smith, was asked about the possibility of signing Dhoni.

Smith responded to the question and mentioned that he respects the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and its regulations. However, if there is an opportunity to get someone like Dhoni in, the former South African captain wouldn’t hesitate at all.

Notably, according to BCCI rules, no player can feature in a T20 league outside of India if he hasn’t dissociated from Indian cricket completely. Though Dhoni has already retired from international cricket, he still plays in the IPL and captains Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Therefore, playing for another T20 league abroad isn’t a possibility for Dhoni at the moment.

“Listen, it’ll be amazing to have a player like MSD. Yeah, I mean, we, as I said, we always work with and respect the BCCI’s decisions. And I think that the fact that we’ve created a really good working relationship with them, we’ve been able to talk to them and learn and bounce off things from many different factors. I mean, they’re hugely experienced in, you know, certainly, you know, doing these type of events like, you know, from an IPL, World Cup perspective. And I think it’s a very important relationship to have for SA20. Yeah, look, I think, you know, from our perspective, you know, we looked at it, and there were one or two opportunities,” said Smith in a media interaction.

“I think one thing that we really wanted to build was a vibrant, young, up-and-coming, really competitive cricket League, you know. So someone like an MSD would certainly add a lot of value to our league, you know, he’s been able to perform and maintain performance for a very long time and extremely professional, bring a level to the league that we would be proud to have. So, you know, if there was ever an opportunity, certainly would be reaching out to me,” added Smith.

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January 20, 2023 at 07:15PM