The IPL generates more revenue than the English Premier League: Sourav Ganguly

Tags: IPL 2022, Sourav Chandidas Ganguly, BCCI

Published on: Jun 12, 2022

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has claimed that the cricket’s cash-rich T20 tournament, the Indian Premier League (IPL) generates more revenue than the world’s most famous football league - the English Premier League.

The 2022 edition of the IPL concluded recently with the Gujarat Titans (GT) lifting their maiden title in their debut season itself. This year’s competition witnessed the expansion of the event as 10 teams took part while the number of matches increased from 60 to 74. Former India captain and current BCCI president has expressed pleasure at the manner in which the game of cricket and IPL has progressed.

At the India Leadership Council Event, Ganguly said, "I've seen the game evolve, where players like me earned a few hundreds and now have the potential of earning crores. This game is run by the fans, by the people of this country, and by the BCCI, which was formed by cricket fans. This sport is strong and will continue to evolve. The IPL generates more revenue than the English Premier League. It makes me feel happy and proud that the sport I love has evolved to become so strong."

Although the initial couple of weeks of IPL 2022 saw the viewership fall as the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Mumbai Indians (MI) struggled, things improved towards the second half. There was a massive crowd for the final in Ahmedabad as GT lifted the crown defeating the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the summit encounter.

At the event, Ganguly, fondly known as Dada, said about his leadership style, "Captaincy, to me, is leading a team on the ground, and leadership, to me, is building a team. So, whether I worked with Sachin, Azhar, or Dravid, I didn't compete with them; instead, I collaborated with them as leaders and shared responsibility."

He also said that managing individuals is the one common aspect between captaining the team and leading the BCCI. He elaborated, "This country has exceptional talent, ranging from young players to young corporate employees. I genuinely believed that if I wanted to be the captain of a successful team, I had to respect my colleagues so that they could become good players, and that it's never the other way around; you can't keep everything to yourself and expect good things to happen; it won't happen."

Ganguly played 113 Tests and 311 ODIs from 1992 to 2008. He took over leadership in 2000 when India were reeling from the match-fixing controversy and helped put Indian cricket back on track.

–By A Cricket Correspondent

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