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Former India captain Sourav Ganguly believes age should not be a barrier to selection for the Indian squad.

The man-of-the-match at the third and final Test against South Africa in Kanpur has been at the rough end of the selection process, especially when he was dropped from the one-day squad after the Australia series.

Kokota-based southpaw Ganguly, a veteran of 106 tests, has battled his way back into the fold, believing that proves there is not a new-found obsession with youth in the selection policy.

He told the Hindu Times: "For me, the driving force was to play for India again. It helped that I was not leading the side. The best way to pick a player on performance and nothing else.

"There is no other way to judge a player. You can do it only on performance and not age. It would be wrong to call it an obsession with youth."

The 37-year-old also had a word of warning for the youngsters set to benefit from the huge contracts being handed out by the Indian Premier League.

He said: "I will tell them that money will not fetch runs or wickets. It is only performance that will count. They have to work on their cricket and judge their abilities by what they achieve, not what they earn.

"You have to do well in Tests, to do well in all forms of the game. This is a lesson I learned the first time I played in a one-day match. Nothing can match Test cricket, nothing."