For South Africa, the benefits of hosting the Indian Premier League are turning out to be more than just financial.

With most teams fielding a host of local players, majority of the South African squad for the forthcoming World Twenty20 Championship in England have got invaluable match practice.

Yusuf Abdullah and Roelf van de Merve have in fact earned their call-ups due to some stand-out performances in the IPL. And with the established names — Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, JP Duminy, Albie and Morne Morkel, Mark Boucher, Herschelle Gibbs and AB de Villiers — also coming good, coach Micky Arthur now has an in-from team at his disposal.

Of the 15 players selected to travel to England, only vice-captain Johan Botha, who initially got a call-up for Rajasthan Royals, Justin Ontong, Wayne Parnell, Robbie Peterson have missed out on the practice here.

“The fact that the first XI is playing all these games will definitely help us in the World Cup. South Africa had an idea of their basic team but getting good competitive games is a big help towards the preparation,” says former skipper Kepler Wessels.

Herschelle Gibbs also underlines the importance of IPL ahead of the World Cup. “It is the toughest tournament mentally, and this has helped my game. My job is to make the optimum use of the field restrictions. So far things have worked out fine,” says Gibbs.