Exclusive: How Robin Peterson Led MI Cape Town to Their First SA20 Title

Having won the third edition of the SA20 this past weekend, SportsBoom.co.za caught up with MI Cape Town head coach, Robin Peterson. 

The 45-year-old gave insight into his team's first-ever successful SA20 campaign following two dismal opening seasons for the Cape Town-based unit.

Creating a happy team environment

Having finished bottom of the standings in the first two seasons, MI Cape Town went into the third season with a bit of pressure considering that the people of Cape Town expect the best from their sporting teams. 

Be it the Stormers rugby team or MI Cape Town, the friendly city always shows up for their teams in the stadiums, expecting nothing but the best from them. 

That pressure, coupled with the fact that Mumbai Indians, which own MI Cape Town, have standards of their own, Peterson headed into the tournament with his work cut out. 

The 45-year-old responded just the way he wanted, leading his team to glory against the defending champions in the final in Johannesburg last Sunday. 

"There was no rocket science to it. We were just a bunch of guys who enjoyed each other's company and wanted to win the tournament," said Peterson, reflecting on their campaign.  

The 45-year-old reiterated the importance of the role that senior players such as Trent Boult, the former New Zealand international, have had in MI Cape Town winning the trophy this season.

"The new recruits were great. Having Rashid back for the third edition was instrumental to our success and adding guys with the experience of Trent Boult, Colin Ingram and Dane Piedt," he said. 

"I mean, these guys, people will never know the value that they added in the background to help us get over the line. They played a leadership role. They were part of the strategies, analyzing the opposition, and what we needed as a group, and they all played a part in the leadership group."

"Dane Piedt played one game and was man of the match. We were clear that we needed him to play a leadership role on and off the field."

"We couldn't guarantee game time but he was fantastic, him and Colin Ingram in terms of keeping the guys going. The experience in the background from those two was probably more important than people realise in us winning that competition."

Rashi Khan's inspirational leadership

As a coach, Peterson had Rashid Khan as captain, his right-hand man in the tournament. The two had already proven that they were an incredible duo having won the Major League Cricket tournament in the United States six months before the start of the SA20. 

Peterson lauded Khan's inspirational leadership and admitted that it was key to their success this season. 

"Rashid is a humble guy, first and foremost. He's an inspirational leader, he leads by example and is a very approachable guy. So, guys responded to him," said Peterson. 

"I've seen a lot of growth in Rashid as a captain. I saw it last year in the Major League and with him coming here I didn't want him any different as a leader. I told him not to captain this team differently to Afghanistan, to bring your strengths to the party and he did that."

"I didn't want him to be anyone different from that. I wanted him to be that inspirational guy because that's who he is at his core and just lead from his heart."

"He's 26 but very experienced. He has played over 400 T20s, played in every franchise league in the world, and dominated every league he's played in. He comes with a wealth of experience."

Approaching T20 leagues as coach

Having won his second franchise trophy as a coach, Peterson gave insight into his approach as a coach in what is such a tough space for coaches.

The former Proteas all-rounder highlighted the importance of having strong characters in your team.

"You need characters. You can hear Alex Ferguson even say it. You need leaders and strong characters and that's what we had in abundance this year," he said. 

"Everybody stuck their hand up. These franchise tournaments are always tricky. There's no formula to it, at the end of the day, every group is different."

"If you take another group in a different league, you may have to look at who you have and how you can approach it."