Former Pakistan cricket captain Salman Butt has called out former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly for his recent statement, in which he stated that winning the Indian Premier League (IPL) was a more challenging task than winning an International Cricket Council (ICC) title. Butt expressed his surprise and disbelief at Ganguly’s statement, stating that it was not appropriate to compare the ultimate format of cricket with the shortest format where only four international players were present in a team. Butt emphasized that there was no basis for comparison between league cricket and Test or international cricket.
Ganguly had made the statement in support of Rohit Sharma’s captaincy after his failures in ICC events. Ganguly had gone on to say that he had full faith in Sharma, who had won five IPL titles and that winning the IPL was a challenging task due to its format.
Team India’s last triumph in an ICC tournament was in 2013 when they clinched the Champions Trophy title in England under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Since then, India has witnessed two changes in captains and has faced defeat in four finals (T20 World Cup 2014, Champions Trophy 2017, WTC 2021, and WTC 2023) and three semi-finals (T20 World Cup 2016 and 2022, and ODI World Cup 2019).
Ganguly still believes that Rohit Sharma is India’s most suitable candidate to break their ICC title drought. He explained that when Virat Kohli left, the selectors needed a captain, and Rohit emerged as the top choice at that time. Ganguly highlighted Rohit’s track record, including his five IPL trophies and successful performance in winning the Asia Cup.
Overall, this exchange between the former captains of the arch-rivals highlights the ongoing debate surrounding the merits of league cricket versus international cricket. However, it will ultimately be up to Team India to focus on their future performance and try to win an ICC title soon.
