Virender Sehwag expresses understanding for Graeme Smith's criticism of ILT20: 'I can sense his jealousy'

The third edition of the ILT20 is set to kick off on Wednesday, showcasing six teams filled with well-known cricketers. Speaking at the captain's day press conference in Cape Town, organizers emphasized the league's distinct South African identity, with a focus on promoting and benefiting local talent. "We are proud to be a South African league, with a strong representation of South African players. Our primary objective is to support and develop the talent of our local cricketing community," they stated.

"We've been built up against ILT20, so it's very difficult for me to not come across like I'm bad-mouthing them, but I do feel like a league like that is not good for the game; that there's that many international players required to build a team; there's no investment back into local cricket. That is a challenge for the world game and something that needs to be managed going forward."

What Sehwag said

Reacting to Smith's comments, Sehwag felt he understood Smith's pain of not getting too many international players for the SA20. However, they have enough star power and a substantial amount of emerging talent. The likes of Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, and Dinesh Karthik are already playing the third season of the league across South Africa, which has been further bolstered by the presence of Trent Boult, Rashid Khan and Kane Williamson.

"I sense jealousy there because we have a plethora of international stars coming in, whereas their league is starved of such international players. I can understand his [Smith's] pain, but this is even better for the ILT20. You get to see established players here along with some local UAE talent who are rubbing shoulders with legends and experienced pros," Sehwag said while talking to Snitch YouTube channel.

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