WHEN the ICC Cricket World Cup opened on October 5 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the pundits said that it was perhaps the last time that a 50-over World Cup would be played. The argument was that the one-day international format was long past its use-by date. It stood no chance, they said against the fast-paced T20s or the uniquely English 100s (called because the game is limited to 100 balls for each side).
Surprise of surprise, the spectacular success of this edition of the World Cup has demolished this argument decisively and the numbers only reinforce that view:
The Hindustan Times quoted both West Indies giant Vivian Richards and Sri Lankan legend Aravinda De Silva (who was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame during the tournament) in a long piece of the 50-over format: “Strongly in favour of ODIs is Viv Richards; once holder of the highest individual score in the format (189) and a slayer of bowling attacks”. “This is the next important format after Test cricket.
It gives the players enough time to accomplish an innings,” he said. Aravinda de Silva termed “ODIs a mix of T2O’s power and fast pace, as well as Test cricket’s stamina and strategy”.
However, there are others from the generation when the one-day international came into its own who believe that the format needs to be reinvented. Sachin Tendulkar, for example, wants the ODIs to be broken down to four innings of 25 overs each to reduce the monotony—with each 25 overs having perhaps the same regulations as a T20.
Wasim Akram in a chat with Fox Sports said, ” I have a problem with ODI cricket right now. Very rarely do you see nowadays in one-day cricket something interesting happen in those (middle) 30 overs. Just go to 40 overs, you’ll have more action during that period.” He added, “I don’t know if it’s going to happen, but I think 40 overs would be more interesting, especially for bilateral series. Nowadays the audience, we do know their (attention) span is less than (it was in) the nineties, because of the T20 format and because of social media. We have to adapt.”
Winning Australian Captain Pat Cummins wants it to continue: “I must say, maybe because we won, I did fall in love with ODI again this World Cup. I mean, the World Cup’s got such a rich history, I’m sure it’s going to be around for a long time. Yeah, there are so many wonderful games and so many wonderful stories within these last couple of months. So, I think there’s a place.”
The broad consensus is that when the next global cricket cycle commences and the ICC cricket committee meets to discuss the various formats, there will be a good hard look at the ODIs and how to make it more interesting. One thing is clear, though. No one wants the slambang of the T20s. Everyone wants a sport that has something for the batter and the bowler and is a test of skills.
So how and what sort of evolution will happen, we need to wait for that. Cricket administrators are loath to tinker with a successful recipe. With such a successful tournament just behind them, who knows the evolution may still be some way off.
