Paarl [South Africa], January 11 : Former South Africa cricketer Allan Donald praised the SA20 league, describing it as "as good as it gets" from a South African cricket perspective, even while acknowledging that it cannot match the scale of India's Indian Premier League (IPL).
Speaking to the media during the ongoing SA20 2025-26 season, Donald said the league's true essence cannot be fully appreciated on television, noting that the atmosphere comes alive only when experienced in person.
He compared the tournament's energy to that of the IPL and highlighted that SA20 represents the highest level of domestic T20 cricket in South Africa, combining world-class stars with emerging young talent.
"We've been waiting for this, I reckon, for quite some time now. You don't really realise it, you know, we sit at home, we watch it on the box and we don't get the real atmosphere of it and being here and living in this region, experiencing this is, I mean, I was fortunate enough last year to be with Durban Supergiants and being in their dressing room, it feels like an IPL atmosphere. It's got that set-up of it, not that this tournament will be as big as the IPL, don't think there are many in the world that will be as big, but from a South African point of view, this is as good as it gets. High-class cricketers, world-class cricketers, experiencing some youngsters coming that I haven't seen," Allan Donald said in Paarl.
Donald highlighted the emergence of the 19-year-old pacer Nqobani Mokoena, saying he didn't know the youngster earlier and is now playing on the biggest stage against world-class players, calling it a special story and expressing hope that the tournament continues to grow.
"They discovered only a few weeks ago that Mokoena has come from nowhere. I've not seen him at all. Here he is on the biggest stage against some of the finest cricketers in the world, and he's showing what he can do. It's very special, and I hope this thing gets bigger and bigger," Allan Donald said.
Mokoena has played six matches in the ongoing SA20 season, claiming nine wickets at an average of 21.44, placing him fourth on the leading wicket-takers list so far.
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