'Winning IPL is more difficult than winning World Cup' - Sourav Ganguly makes startling remark after India's loss in WTC Final

Following the loss of the Indian team in the World Test Championship final 2023 against Australia, fans have been blaming IPL (Indian Premier League) for the team’s poor show in the big game. Notably, the IPL 2023 final was played on the reserve day on May 29 which gave the players just one week to prepare for the all-important fixture. Captain Rohit Sharma also pointed out that the team didn’t get much time to prepare for the WTC final which could’ve made the difference in the big game.

With fans and experts bashing the IPL all around, former India captain Sourav Ganguly has given a startling statement in favour of the T20 extravaganza. Ganguly said that winning IPL is even more difficult than winning the World Cup as you need to play consistently across 14 matches in order to qualify for the knockouts in the IPL as opposed to World Cup.

“Winning the IPL is even more difficult than winning the World Cup. You've to play 14 matches then Playoffs in the IPL whereas you qualify for Semis and then Final after 4-5 matches in the WC,” said Ganguly on Aaj Tak.

Notably, players such as Mohammed Shami, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat (benched), and Shubman Gill were part of the IPL final 2023 and left India just a week prior to the final. On the other hand, other players played till the league stage which ended on May 21, while captain Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan played till Qualifier 2 on May 26.

Ahead of the previous WTC final in 2021, India reached England on June 3 to play the final which began on June 18. Despite the cancellation of IPL 2021 due to covid outbreak in early May, India was sent late for the big game which resulted in their loss. 

Meanwhile, both captain Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid complained about not getting enough time to prepare for the WTC final. It will be interesting to see if BCCI does something regarding the tight schedule of the players ahead of the next WTC final.