‘Winning IPL is more difficult than winning World Cup’ – Former India captain stamps down interesting remark on Rohit Sharma

India lost to the Australia team in the finals of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-23 final by 209 runs at The Oval on Sunday. Though there is a lot to admire about the Indian players and the brand of cricket that they played throughout the WTC cycle, but the sad reality remains that it is yet another big occasion where the marquee players have failed to deliver.

There were a lot of expectations by the fans from skipper Rohit Sharma to lead the side to their maiden WTC title and meanwhile end the decade-long drought of winning major trophies. Also, following this defeat there have been multiple statements coming in from fans as well as experts who have been questioning Rohit for his style of captaincy. Now, the former president of the Indian Cricket Board, Sourav Ganguly made a shocking revelation about Virat Kohli’s unpredicted step down as the captain of the Indian Test team.

After being stripped from the captaincy in white ball cricket, Kohli soon hung his boots as the captain of the Indian Test side after India toured South Africa in January 2022. There were multiple reports which claimed that there was a feud between Ganguly and Kohli which eventually resulted in the 34-year-old taking that decision.

Recently, speaking to Aaj Tak, the former India captain said that the board was not prepared for Kohli leaving the captaincy and only he himself can reveal the reason behind his exit. The 50-year-old also told that Rohit was then the best possible candidate for the captaincy as whenever he was given a chance to lead the team, he did it efficiently and it was during his tenure that India even won the Asia Cup.

The former India opener also lauded Rohit and MS Dhoni for the way they have led their franchise to multiple trophies in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Ganguly even went on to say that it is not easy to win 5 IPL titles as it is a very tough tournament. The former Indian player even went on to claim that winning an IPL title is more difficult than winning 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.

The former Indian opener also urged the current Indian skipper to lead the team without any fear in the upcoming 2023 World Cup as the team has six months to gel up well and get over the scars of the recent WTC final defeat.