Salman Butt slams Ganguly for IPL tougher than World Cup comment; says BCCI plotted end of Kohli’s captaincy

Salman Butt has expressed shock at Sourav Ganguly’s comment in which he claimed that winning the IPL was tougher than winning the World Cup. Butt said the comment from someone of Ganguly’s stature was shocking.

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Ganguly, the former captain of the Indian cricket team, recently backed Rohit Sharma’s leadership following India’s 209-run defeat in the WTC Final 2023, saying that he is a proven skipper who has won five IPL titles.

“I have full faith in Rohit. He and MS Dhoni have won 5 IPL titles. Winning the IPL isn’t easy because it’s a tough tournament. Winning the IPL is more difficult than winning a World Cup as there are 14 matches after which you take part in the playoffs.

“In the World Cup, it takes only 4-5 matches for a place in the semis. In the IPL, it takes 17 matches for you to become champions,” Ganguly told Sports Tak.

Reacting to Ganguly’s comment, Butt has said that franchise cricket cannot at all be compared with international cricket. He took a sly dig at Ganguly by saying watching Test cricket was a tough job after watching a lot of T20 cricket.

“Someone asked [me for my opinion] that Ganguly has said that IPL is tougher than WTC. I am shying away from any comment because I did not expect a world-class player and a captain to speak in such a way.

“There is no comparison between League cricket and Test cricket. Miles apart. It’s the ultimate thing in cricket. The other is a local thing where seven players are local and four professionals. I don’t see any comparison,” Salman Butt said on his YouTube channel.

“It’s an unnecessary opinion or debate. You can ask any player in the world. I am surprised to hear this. He could have said that it’s tough to see because when you watch a lot of T20 cricket, it’s tough to watch [Test cricket],” he added.

BCCI plotted Kohli’s exit as captain

Further, the former opener also alleged that the BCCI orchestrated Virat Kohli’s exit as the captain of the Indian cricket team. Notably, Ganguly was the president of the BCCI when Kohli stepped down from the T20I captaincy before being sacked as the ODI captain. Kohli quit the Test captaincy just a month after being sacked as the ODI captain.

In the recent interview with Sports Tak, Ganguly again said that Kohli took the decision to step down from the Test captaincy on his own and it came as a surprise for the board.

“Kohli was a successful captain, and the way he was being removed step by step… he himself gave it away. I’ve read many comments claiming that Kohli himself stepped down from captaincy and wasn’t removed. Listen, brother… they (the board) created the build-up.

“Didn’t he say in the press conference that there was no communication with me? You can watch the PC if you haven’t,” the former Pakistan skipper said on his Youtube channel.

“It comes down to these things when the player knows it was done deliberately. The professional he is, and the captain that he was, I still don’t think he should’ve been removed.”