Johannesburg - Proteas captain Graeme Smith on Wednesday welcomed the news that the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 (T20) cricket tournament will be played in South Africa from the middle of April.
"This is fantastic for South Africa," he enthused. "It's another opportunity to showcase the country ahead of the Fifa World Cup in 2010.
"A hundred of the world's best cricketers will be taking part, and South Africans will have the opportunity to experience Twenty20 cricket Indian style." Smith, who earlier indicated that he might not play for his IPL franchise, in order to recover from the severe tennis elbow that has been troubling him for the past year, said he might play after all.
"My broken finger is recovering well, and I should be ready for the one-day internationals against Australia, starting on April 3. In the meantime, my elbow is also doing well, and depending on how it goes during the ODIs, I might play for the Rajasthan Rajahs after all."
Another IPL player, AB de Villiers, who made an exuberant T20-style 163 in the third Test against Australia last week, was also excited that the tournament was coming to South Africa, saying it showed South Africa had the ability to host major events, including the Fifa World Cup.
"I think it's great that the IPL showed faith in our country to host it. I still hear people doubting that we can host the 2010 World Cup, and I think the IPL has given us the answer. We definitely can, and it's great that a huge tournament like that is coming here."
He said he expected big crowds at the matches, even though South Africans might not identify with a particular IPL team."Some of the best players in the world are taking part, and people will go to see those players. The support will probably be based around individual players," he said.
"We don't have the stadiums that can hold the huge crowds they had in India last year, but I think we should fill our stadiums. It's going to be very exciting."