More earnings, less exertion draw cricketers to T20 leagues

London : Former West Indies captain Daren Ganga believs that the simple logic of being able to earn more by putting the body through less wear and tear is pushing players to embark on a career in T20 leagues.

"Human instinct will tell you that if that opportunity (to) earn 10 times the amount of money by putting 10 times less wear and tear on your body, that's the decision that you will make without batting an eyelid," Ganga said during Wisden and CricViz's The Greatest T20 podcast.

"That is what I think has been the case with a lot of cricketers, not only in the West Indies but across the globe."

West Indies have been one of the most affected teams due to the rise of T20 leagues over the past decade with former captains Chris Gayle, Darren Sammy and Dwayne Bravo all abandoning their Test careers for participating in T20 leagues.

Star all-rounder Andre Russell has played just one Test while spinner Sunil Narine has played six. Current limited-overs captain Kieron Pollard has not played a single Test.

"With T20 cricket, you realise that it's not just about playing T20Is for your national team," said Ganga. "There are so many opportunities for players now.

Players who don't even go on to play international cricket, they're playing in T20 franchise competitions all across the globe and making a living out of it."

However, the 41-year-old said that these players deserve credit for what they have done in their careers.

"Like anything else in life, if you dedicate your time, your resources, and you train with a unity of focus in something, you would be able to achieve a fair amount of success," he said.

"So if there wasn't T20 cricket, I still think a guy like Andre Russell or Sunil Narine would have played international cricket for the West Indies, in the 50-over format and even in Test cricket as well. Their focus would have shifted in that area," he added.

Ganga played 48 Tests, 35 ODIs and one T20I for the Windies in which he amassed 2160, 843 and 26 runs respectively.