The Indian Premier League is threatening to eclipse international cricket and become the primary source of income for many players.
Naturally, this is great news for India and the BCCI but every other national board has reason to be nervous.
For South Africa though the situation is complicated given the relationship between the boards.
India have held a powerful position in the global game for some time and not entirely off the back of the IPL but instead due to their enormous TV audience and potential to pull in massive revenue from advertising.
They tried, as part of the so-called big three, to exercise their will over the game, although the ICC has taken measures towards some sort of parity.
The rise of the IPL will not bring about equity in world cricket and outside of India certain countries are better placed to benefit from the tournaments dominance of the landscape.
For players in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, the IPL generally falls into a period that is part of the domestic off-season, as a result these three countries are big contributors of players.
Being a T20 tournament, the IPL also pulls in a lot of cricketers from the West Indies.
England meanwhile have a complicated relationship with the event and have often sought to prevent their players from taking part in one way or another.
Pakistan are completely exiled from the IPL in any form and tend to be one of the few nations that will hold bilateral series during the window occupied by the event.
So then, how does it benefit South Africa if the IPL is ascendent.
CSA have managed to staple the SA20 to the IPL’s coat-tails with naming conventions and attachments to franchise owners in India.
This should be both a benefit to the players who turn out in SA20 and also to the tournament which should get a little bit of the rub from the massive IPL.
We have already seen the likes of Sisanda Magala sign as a late replacement for the Chennai Super Kings thanks to his part in their Joburg teams efforts.
Players should be keener to turn out in the SA20 to maintain or gain favour with IPL bigwigs.
With the game set to change drastically, South Africa could benefit from a close relationship with cricket’s superpower.
