Sunil Gavaskar, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid Had The Hunger To Perform; Don't Think Players Will Only Play For The Money – Sourav Ganguly

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly gave the examples of Sunil Gavaskar, Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid to explain that the money is not everything in cricket when he was asked whether the players will now be interested more in Indian Premier League (IPL) money than playing international cricket.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) media rights E-auction for the 2023-27 cycle was recently concluded and the rights have been sold for a whopping INR 48,390 crore (USD 6.20 billion).

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Disney Star retained their Indian sub-continent TV rights for INR 23,575 crore and Viacom18 secured the digital rights in the same region and media rights (both TV and digital) across three global regions – Australia, New Zealand, UK and South Africa – for INR 23,758 crore. Also, Times Internet got Package D.

Meanwhile, Ganguly said that the “money can’t be related to performances” of players as the players including the likes of Gavaskar, Kumble and Dravid used to get a lot less money than the current generation players still they all had a hunger to do well for India at the international level.

“First thing first, money can’t be related to performances. From the times of Sunil Gavaskar to Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid, the money was nowhere close to what the players get now. But all of them had the hunger to perform.

“I don’t think players will only play for the money. Players play for the stature they get and the pride of representing India. Every player would want to win big international tournaments,” Ganguly told The Times of India.

The planning for the media rights started two years ago – Sourav Ganguly

The BCCI president said that the planning for the Indian Premier League media rights started two years ago and it was meticulously done.

“The planning for the media rights started two years ago. It was meticulously done. It has been a great year for Indian cricket so far.

“We have completed the domestic season, have got packed houses back in stadiums, the IPL was wonderfully conducted and now this mega deal. I want to congratulate Disney-Star, Viacom18 and Times Internet for playing a part,” said the former captain.

Ganguly was also asked whether the Board of Control for Cricket in India will now push for a bigger window for IPL considering the large cash benefits it attracts.

Ganguly replied by saying that the bilateral tours will continue so that the rest of the cricket boards in the world can generate revenue and the Indian Premier League will have only 74 games each in the next couple of seasons. However, Ganguly added that the next Future Tours Programme (FTP) cycle “will have to be carefully worked out”.

“Bilateral tours will continue. The IPL is an Indian tournament. Bilateral tours are for the rest of the world to generate revenue. Players from other countries need bilateral series. For the next two years, IPL will continue to have 74 matches. The next Future Tours Programme (FTP) cycle will have to be carefully worked out,” he added.

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