Ganguly rubbishes franchise vs country debate

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) struck a bumper deal as it sold the broadcast rights for the Indian Premier League for the next five seasons to global media giants for an eye-popping USD 6.2 billion.

With the extravagant funds coming in, there are those who question whether such money will become a factor for the players to focus on the IPL more over national duty.

"First thing first, money can't be related to performances. From the times of Sunil Gavaskar to Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid, the money was nowhere close to what the players get now. But all of them had the hunger to perform. I don't think players will only play for the money," BCCI President Sourav Ganguly gave his opinion yesterday during an interview with an Indian newspaper.

According to the BCCI president, the current players also have the hunger to do well for their country at the international level."Players play for the stature they get and the pride of representing India. Every player wants to win big international tournaments," the former India captain added.

The franchise vs country debate has been going on for the last few years as there have been a number of instances where players have preferred playing in the IPL over representing their country.

Describing the mega deal as a big opportunity to further strengthen Indian cricket, he elaborated: "This will help the BCCI create even stronger infrastructure. The money needs to go to the grassroots. This also allows the board to raise the player fees across age groups and genders. The priority is to increase the salaries of women cricketers."