Former Indian cricket captain and former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president, Sourav Ganguly, spoke about the future of T20 leagues in the world of cricket at the Sportstar event in Kolkata. Ganguly predicted that players will eventually realize the importance of playing for their country and that only a few of the many T20 leagues will survive in the long run.
“All the T20 leagues are in countries where cricket is a popular sport and within the period of four-five years, there will be a stage where only a few will exist as players will realize that the rest are not important,” said Ganguly.
The former Indian skipper also pointed out that the struggles of teams in international cricket have a lot to do with administration, as he has seen the entire structure and support system during his time as the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) and BCCI. He emphasized that a good relationship between players and administrators is crucial in inspiring players to play more for their country.
Ganguly also touched upon the importance of administration in cricket, mentioning the example of Zimbabwe cricket in 1999 when the team was stronger despite having less money. He added, “The West Indies, days of Michael Holding, Andy Roberts and Joel Garner, where was the money? There wasn’t. The administration is very important to hold on to the players.”
Ganguly served as the president of CAB from 2015 to 2019, and then took over the position of president of the BCCI from 2019 to 2022, becoming the first Indian captain to head the board in 65 years. He concluded that the money in cricket is not the issue, but rather holding on to players to play for their country is the key to solving many problems.
