Sourav Ganguly was India captain in October 2004 when the first-ever annual central player contracts were introduced in Indian cricket. The signing of the contracts on the sidelines of the India v South Africa Test in Kolkata marked the end of a seven-year struggle to get an annual retainer in place for the elite cricketers.

Discussions actually started in 1997, when former BCCI General Manager, Prof Ratnakar Shetty was on tour in Sri Lanka as team manager. The real push came for it in 2000-01 when a clutch of senior pros including Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Sachin Tendulkar and Javagal Srinath got together. Kumble and Dravid led the discussions from the players' side. The major reason behind the contracts being introduced was to provide a sense of security to the players so that irrespective of them being injured there was a sense of stability in terms of their income.