Dale Steyn reckons the Mzansi Super League (MSL) can’t be compared to the franchise based T20 leagues in the other countries, especially the IPL, but he stresses that the standard of MSL is decent enough.
The MSL was launched in 2018 and six teams had participated in the first edition of the tournament which was won by the Jozi Stars. The second edition is starting from the 8th of November this year and there haven’t been any additions made to the no. of teams.
There are still only 6 teams in the tournament who will play against each other home and away in the preliminary round and on the basis of their no. of points, the top 4 will qualify for the IPL-style playoffs.
According to Steyn, when he had featured in MSL 1, it wasn’t a walk in the park for him. He had to work hard to get his wickets which was a clear sign that the batsmen he was bowling to possessed some quality.
“The IPL is one of those untouchable leagues because it seems like in every IPL team, there’s a lot of high-quality international experience. In MSL, you maybe get three or four (internationals), but it’s still good.” Steyn was quoted saying by ESPNcricinfo.
Dale Steyn also thinks MSL is an opportunity for the unknown names of the South African domestic circuit to burst onto the global scene.
The veteran fast bowler talked about Rassie van der Dussen who was the player of the tournament in MSL 1 where he scored 469 runs in just 11 innings at an average of 58.62.
That performance helped Rassie not only get into the South African white-ball set-up, but also earn contracts in several other T20 leagues around the globe. Rassie was the vice-captain of the South African squad which recently toured India for the T20I series.
