Salman Butt takes a dig at Sourav Ganguly for comparing ICC tournament win to IPL triumph

Former India captain and BCCI President Sourav Ganguly drew criticism from former Pakistan batter Salman Butt for comparing IPL with the World Test Championship in his defence of Indian skipper Rohit Sharma.

Butt took to his YouTube to express shock at the Indian veteran’s comments.

“I didn’t expect a world-class player and a captain to say something like this. How can you compare league cricket with Test (and international) cricket? There’s no comparison. You’re comparing the ultimate format of cricket with the shortest format where only four international players are in a team? There’s no comparison,” Butt said.

Talking to India Today after Team India’s humiliating 209-run loss to Australia in the WTC final, Ganguly defended Rohit Sharma saying that it was harder to win the IPL, which Rohit Sharma has led Mumbai Indians to five times, than a World Cup.

“I have full faith on 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,” he said.

Ganguly, however, believes Rohit is the best choice for captaincy.

“The selectors needed a captain after Virat left and Rohit was the best that time. He had won 5 IPL trophies and done well at the international level as well; he won the Asia Cup. He was the best option. India also played in the final of the Test championship, although we lost.

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“Even two years ago, we lost the WTC final. We reached the semis of the T20 World Cup. So, the selectors picked that person who was the best for the job,” Ganguly said.

It’s been ten years now since India won an ICC title. In 2013, under Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s captaincy, Indian won the Champions Trophy in England.

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