Don’t judge ability of players by prices at IPL auction, says Sourav Ganguly

Indian Premier League (IPL) has no rationale and can’t be a yardstick to determine the value of cricketers, says former Indian cricket team skipper Sourav Ganguly

Trust Sourav Ganguly to tell it like he thinks it is. He may be the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), but the former Indian cricket team skipper, and the scorer of 38 international hundreds, remains as outspoken as ever.

Former Indian cricket team skipper Sourav Ganguly also spoke about the South Africa cricket team vs India ODI series and said both the teams are evenly matched. (Getty Images)

The procedure of the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction has already been thrashed and on Wednesday, Ganguly said the outrageous prices cricketers fetched there have no bearing on their abilities. “Don’t judge players by the amount of money they get in the IPL,” he said at the launch of 20th edition of the Cricket Year Book.

“Hashim Amla went unsold and he has 54 international hundreds while Ishan Kishen gets over Rs 6 crore having played only Ranji Trophy,” said Ganguly. That wasn’t all. Jaydev Unadkat, who has little international experience, fetched Rs 11.5 crore and Manish Pandey goes for Rs 11 crore,” he elaborated.

“The IPL has no rationale, it is a different format and you have to look at it that way. It is about demand and supply and can’t be a yardstick to determine a player’s value,” said Ganguly.

One day after another former India skipper Mohammed Azharuddin said India could win the ODI series in South Africa, Ganguly said the teams are evenly matched. “After winning the Johannesburg Test, I would say the series is 50-50 but what goes in India’s favour is that AB de Villiers will be missing the first three ODIs.”

The Wanderers Test, Ganguly said, was played on the kind of wicket he has never seen in six visits to South Africa as a player including an IPL. Ganguly called the wicket an accident. “But I thought I could win when they won the toss because I knew the wicket would deteriorate. In 2006, the same thing happened. We won the toss, batted first and won the match.”

‘ATK combination wrong’

Even though he is a co-owner, Ganguly didn’t flinch from stating that ISL champions ATK have got it wrong this term. “We could not get our combination right. For the past three years with Spanish coaches and their chosen players we won twice. The change in management didn’t work for us,” said Ganguly.