Is One Day Cricket dying? Well, it certainly seems so. Especially what had happened over the years after the advent of T20 cricket. Meanwhile, it became even more evident when recently Ben Stokes opted to hang his boots not only from international cricket but exclusively from ODI cricket.
Also Read: Former Cricketer Explains Why Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid Backing Virat Kohli To Hilt
Furthermore, South Africa’s decision to scrap the ODI series against Australia which might cost them a direct qualification in the upcoming 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup also speaks volume. The Proteas will be busy featuring in their brand new T20 franchise tournament.
So is ODI dying?
And if the answer is yes, then what could be done. Former India cricketer and IPL Governing Council member Pragyan Ojha had a great idea.
Also Read: Former Pak Skipper Gives Two Interesting Reasons Why People Are Running Away from ODI Cricket
“I strongly feel that you have to look at bilateral series and maybe, when you talk about ODIs, like how in the old days we had teams coming together for tournaments and big series … that may be something to work on. Agar aap bilateral series ki baat karein toh mujhe nahin lagta ki one-day cricket mein itni viewership ho rahi hai (Don’t think we have great viewership in One Day Cricket). To make that interesting, we need to bring in top four or five teams and play a tournament. Like we used to have the Titan Cup and other such tournaments, that is something which is important. We need to think along those lines. If we’re not ahead of the game then it’s problematic,” he told Cricket Journalist Jamie Alter on Glance.
“The flavour of the game is now T20 cricket, so what players will do is choose Test cricket and say that ‘okay, if I play T20s then I will play the other leagues as well’. Which is right on their part, because financially they have to be secured. That’s just how it goes, and one-day cricket is just left alone. Eveyone is saying ke one-day cricket ke saath humhe kya karna chahiye? (What should we do with ODI?) For that reason, I feel, we should limit the amount of bilateral series and have series that involve three or four teams … something to make things interesting.”
The 35-year-old has been quite vocal about the issue, tweeting his views on the same day Stokes dropped the bombshell.
“We were worried about TEST cricket’s future but the future of ODIs looks uncertain! In future we may see many crickets preferring to move away from this format #SomethingToThinkAbout #Cricketonkoo,” Ojha said on the Koo app.
Get all the latest Cricket News, Schedule and Cricket Live Scores here
Comments
0 comment