'Only a few will survive' - Sourav Ganguly expects T20 leagues to lose their sheen going ahead

Former Indian skipper and former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly feels that within time, players will realise the importance of playing for the country and out of the various T20 leagues in the world, only a few will survive because of the ecosystem.

"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 at the Sportstar event in Kolkata. 

"We keep talking about the leagues around the world, if you look at the IPL it is in a different ecosystem and different league, the Big Bash in Australia does very well, The Hundred does very well in the UK and I see the South Africa league doing very well, I have been watching it for last three weeks."

Ganguly also believes that the teams which are struggling in international cricket have a ‘lot to do with the administration,’ as he has also been the President of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) and then the BCCI and understands the entire system.

He added, "It has got to do a lot with administration (teams struggling in international cricket). I keep saying that, I have been president of CAB for five years and then BCCI president for three years and represented India in the ICC, I have seen the entire structure and support system that makes the game possible." 

Ganguly also mentioned how Zimbabwe was a stronger team back then in 1999, despite having less money when he played his first World Cup in 1999 and was a side that could beat any team. He said, "I remember I played my first World Cup in 1999, Zimbabwe could beat anybody. I am sure Zimbabwe cricket did not have a lot of money then, even India did not have that much money.”

"The West Indies, days of Michael Holding, Andy Roberts and Joel Garner, where was the money? There wasn't. Administration is very important to hold on to the players,” Ganguly further added.

The former Indian captain concluded after stating that many problems can be solved if there is a good relationship between players and the administrators which could inspire the players to play more for their country. He said, "If the relationship between players and administrators is a good lot of problems can get solved. Cricket has a lot more money now, I don't think money is the issue. There is a need to hold on to the players to play for the country."

Ganguly served as the president of CAB from 2015 to 2019, after that he took over the position of president of The Board of Control for Cricket in India for three years from 2019 to 2022. He was also the first Indian captain after 65 years to head the board. 

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