Hub of Cricket Information

The debate over the future of the ODI amidst an overdose of T20 cricket is something which will continue until an appropriate solution to the problem is found. Some might argue that things are just the same and the current format is absolutely fine while on the other, people think that a new format should be proposed. (Read: T20 Debacle: The changing Face Of Indian Cricket) Cricket Australia (CA) seems to be one of those latter sections of the cricketing society who has given it a though and has come up with a brand new proposal to change the format of the game which, according to them would make the game more interesting and catch more eyeballs. Reactions to this proposal have been mixed and an official statement by the ICC has been issued which states that it can only be looked at and discussed about. And even if it is liked by the entire cricketing world, it can only be implemented after the 2015 World Cup.

The CA proposed a reduced version from the currently existing 50 over ODI format. It has come up with a proposal to shorten it to 40 overs per side and that too split it into two innings of 20 overs each which meant that it would be a treat for the spectators to watch their favourite players come on the field and bat/bowl “twice” in the game which would make it look better and would keep the viewers glued to the game. Now, this format looks to be a pretty good at one glance but there are a lot of practical issues to be dealt with. We all have to agree that cricket today is not just the game, it is more a commercialised business and a product coming out of this business is the game. Such has been the situation for the past decade or so with the induction of money which seems to have taken over the game to a great extent. The loyalty factor is something that is slightly going down these days. The point I am trying to make here is that it’s more about the money which is luring the players rather than the quality of the game.

Talking about the proposal made by CA, it can be said that it has been a good attempt by them. Probably, it might work out in the domestic circuits but has to be debated over in its implementation at the international level. Honestly speaking, this format is almost like a T20 game being played twice. As simple as that! Don't you think? As such there have been talks about the overdose of T20 cricket which is murdering the other formats of the game. This would rather act as a catalyst to that and speed up the process of murdering it.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has clearly stated that as per its contract with the broadcaster for the 2015 World Cup, it cannot change the format otherwise it would be a breach of contract in case of the ICC. To add to it, the channel won’t want to lose out on the number of advertisements as the total number of overs lost due to this format and would have even huge drawbacks in terms of revenue for the channel. As I said earlier, cricket is no more a game; it is a product of a commercial process. Implementing it would also deal with time issues as some feel that it would be more time consuming as well.

Another proposal made by Sachin Tendulkar was to split the current format into an innings of 25 overs each. This format seems almost the same like the one by CA except for the fact that the number of overs will not be lost and a full 100 overs will be bowled in the match. But again, there will be an issue as to why would we have a T20 game then? If it has to be shortened it is becoming more of a T20 oriented format rather than a suitable solution to the problem.

Proposals would keep coming and most of them seem to confront the shortest version of the game. It has to be decided whether to implement this, the T20 format, which has gained so much popularity in the world due to which non-cricketing nations seem to be interested in it as well might have to be scrapped to make way for the shorter version of the game to survive. That would be a huge blow for the ICC and the entire cricketing world! To conclude everything in a nutshell, a genuine, feasible replacement is required for the format but not at the cost of T20. The question now arises is that; “What do we replace the ODI format with?” #