The first match of the three-match ODI collection between Team India and Australia was held on Friday, March 17, in Mumbai. Despite 2023 being a World Cup yr, the relevance of the format has been put into query but once more. The rise of T20 cricket and numerous franchise leagues around the globe, coupled with gamers preferring short-term contracts over taking part in for his or her nation, has put the way forward for ODI cricket in jeopardy. The retirements of gamers like Ben Stokes from the format and Trent Boult giving up his nationwide contract for New Zealand to play in abroad T20 leagues have additional added to the doubts surrounding the way forward for the 50-over format. With T20 cricket turning into a rage and Test cricket discovering its ft once more with the World Test Championship, ODI cricket has been left gasping for breath.
Speaking at India Today Conclave, Tendulkar mentioned, “It’s getting monotonous, without a doubt. The current format, which has been there for a while now is two new balls (per innings). When you have two new balls, you have kind of eliminated reverse swing. Even though, we are in the 40th over of the game, it’s just the 20th over of that ball. And the ball only starts reversing around the 30th over.”
Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar, who urged a dynamic change to the format a few years in the past, reiterated his stance for the format to interrupt into 4 innings of 25 overs every relatively than two of fifty. This would break the monotony and reignite folks’s curiosity within the format. Tendulkar argued that two new balls have eradicated reverse swing, which was the hallmark of ODI cricket within the 2000s and 2010s, and it has shifted the sport closely in favour of the batters.
“That element (reverse swing) is missing today because of two new balls. The current format, I feel, is heavy on bowlers. Right now, the game is becoming too predictable. From the 15th to the 40th over, it’s losing its momentum. It’s getting boring.”
“So, both teams bowl in the first and the second half. Commercially too it is more viable as there will be three innings breaks instead of two,” he added.
Tendulkar’s proposed modification may be extra commercially viable since there can be three innings breaks relatively than only one. With India internet hosting the 2023 version of the World Cup, hopes are pinned on the marquee occasion to revive curiosity within the format. It is an opportune time for directors to think about Tendulkar’s suggestion severely and make dynamic modifications to the ODI format to maintain it related and interesting for followers, gamers, and broadcasters alike. The format has a wealthy historical past and has produced a number of unforgettable moments, and it’s important that it evolves with the instances to stay an integral a part of the cricketing calendar.
