Steyn, Smith excited by IPL's arrival

For the first eight years of his life, Dale Steyn knew nothing of live international sport. How differently this generation have it.

In the next 18 months, South African audiences will witness first hand the football World and Confederatons Cups, Lions and Tri-Nations Rugby series and, unexpectedly, the Champions Trophy and IPL cricket tournaments. It is, by any standard, an astonishing sporting line-up, and particularly so for a man raised during South Africa's sporting isolation.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the latter two competitions most excite Steyn. With the world's leading players set to grace South Africa's playing fields not once, but twice, this year, Steyn believes a new generation of supporters will be drawn to cricket.

"Imagine what this will do for the youngsters of my country," Steyn told Cricinfo. "When I was growing up, there were no World Cups in South Africa. I was excited just by the opportunity to watch Jonty Rhodes diving all over the place on television.

"Now the kids of South Africa have a chance to go down to their local grounds and watch the best players in the world playing each other. There is already a real buzz in the country after the Test series against Australia, and this is just going to make it louder."

Steyn, who will play alongside the likes of Kevin Pietersen and Rahul Dravid with the Bangalore Royal Challengers, is uncertain how the hurriedly-prepared tournament will compare with the all-singing, all-dancing spectacle that was the 2008 IPL. The pitches, he expects, will continue to play well despite it being the end of the South African season, but the glitz and glamour of last season will be difficult to replicate.

"It will be interesting to see what can be achieved at such short notice," he said. "The reception was amazing last year. We were really treated like rock stars everywhere we went. From my point of view, I am going to be happy to actually show my friends and family what I was talking about last year. Explaining it to them is one thing, but showing them is another."

Graeme Smith, the South African captain, was similarly enthused at the prospect of the IPL's arrival. Smith was the tournament's fifth highest run-scorer last season (441 at 49.00) and played a leading role in guiding the Rajasthan Royals to the title.

"This is wonderful news for the growth of our cricket and for the growth of our country," Smith said. "It will also give our fans the chance to experience India's cricketing culture."

Cassim Docrat, the chief executive of the Kwa-Zulu Natal Cricket Union, expected the tournament to be warmly embraced by Durban's large Asian community. KZN are already hosting a number of the Mumbai Indians at a training camp, conducted by local greats Shaun Pollock and Rhodes, and Docrat believes this year's IPL represents an opportunity for South African and Indian teams to forge a lasting relationship.

"This is a chance for us to really make something of this opportunity," Docrat told Cricinfo. "We obviously have a large (Asian) population in Durban, and I am certain they will revel in the opportunity to involve themselves with the IPL and watch the Pietersens, Chanderpauls and Tendulkars of the world play here. It is a huge thing for us.

"We would be happy to host any of the teams. We hope that a relationship can be formed that will endure, and open the door to player or coach exchanges, and other forms of cooperation.

"It is difficult to say what the costs will be at this stage. Obviously from (the IPL's) point of view there will be a big cost, and from our point of view we would be hoping to run this without losing money. We are optimistic that it we can host an excellent tournament."