Durban [South Africa], January 9 (ANI): Former Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa, who is currently in South Africa for his commentating duties in the ongoing SA20 season four, hailed the South African T20 league and rated it as the 'second-best' after India's IPL.

He added that SA20 would play a crucial role in helping South Africa flourish on the global cricketing stage.

Speaking to reporters in Durban, Uthappa praised the SA20 for its strong atmosphere and high-quality cricket, calling it the second-best T20 league after the IPL. He said the tournament is helping South African cricket thrive, pointing to the national team's recent strong performances in global events and in India, where they clean-swept the hosts 2-0 in a two-match Test series.

Uthappa also highlighted the depth of young talent in South Africa, naming 18-year-old fast bowler Nqobani Mokoena (Paarl Royals) and batter Jordan Hermann (Sunrisers Eastern Cape) as future stars and saying they are likely to attract attention from IPL scouts and feature in world cricket soon.

Notably, Mokoena currently sits sixth on the leading wicket-takers list of the SA20 2026 season with eight wickets in five matches at an impressive average of 20. Sunrisers batter, Jordan Hermann, on the other hand, sits fifth in the leading run-scorers of the ongoing SA20 season with 146 runs in just three innings, with an exceptional average of 73.

'Well, I absolutely love this tournament. I reckon as far as atmosphere is concerned and quality of cricket is concerned, I reckon it's the second-best league after the IPL. I think you will see South African cricket thriving. And you've already seen it, I think, with the way they're performing at World Championship tournaments and ICC Championship tournaments and the way they played in India recently,' Uthappa said.

Uthappa further said, 'I think you'll see a lot of that talent coming through, notwithstanding their ecosystem. I think there's so much talent here and say the likes of Mokoena, who's an 18-year-old fast bowler who plays for the Paarl Royals, Jordan Hermann who plays for the Sunrisers. I think these are talents that even the IPL scouts will keep their eyes on because these are players for the future. You'll see them playing in world cricket very soon.'

Robin Uthappa said that while SA20 may not have been ideal World Cup preparation five to seven years ago, the current playing conditions now closely resemble those expected at the global event. He noted that traditionally fast, bouncy pitches like Durban have become more balanced, making the league a strong platform for World Cup readiness.

As a result, he believes South Africa and players featuring in SA20 could perform strongly at the upcoming 2026 T20 World Cup due to the similarity in conditions.

'If you asked me this question maybe five or seven years ago, I probably would have said it's decent preparation, but not all that. But given the conditions right now, we see, for example, Durban is supposed to be the fastest wicket in the world with bounce and pace. It's not the same. It sits up. So I think it sits squarely in their preparation for the World Cup. So I won't be surprised if South Africa and some of the players who played in this league end up doing really well in the World Cup, because the conditions are pretty similar at this point in time,' Uthappa said. (ANI)