With the rise of T20 in cricket, the 50-over format faces an uncertain future.
It’s difficult to pin point the exact moment at which the downfall of one day international (ODI) cricket began. The initial seeds were sown when the concept of T20 was floated, though doubts were laid to rest as the 50-over format continued to enjoy popularity amongst fans. Then along came Indian Premier League (IPL). Fans, broadcasters and even players had found something new and exciting, and, suddenly, the ODI seemed like a thing of the past. Nevertheless, after the first season of the IPL, the dwindling interest in ODIs wasn’t generating much worry.
All of a sudden, now everyone is concerned about the issue. The recent ICC meeting even had this “problem” on its agenda. Meanwhile, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) dropped the format from its annual cricketing calendar and replaced it with the 40-over format.
Players — in the past and present — have aired their opinions on what could be done to save or rather revive the interest in the format which till last year seemed to be a favourite amongst many. Sachin Tendulkar wants to see a game of four quarters to reduce the impact of the toss and advantages bestowed by conditions. Sourav Ganguly and Brett Lee agreed with him. Dean Jones has proposed a 40-over game instead, essentially two Twenty20 games with sixes becoming eights to encourage even greater hitting. It was a radical idea and unlikely to be implemented. Many others, including former Australian great Shane Warne, want to put an end to the 50-over format.
Former England captain Michael Atherton, in one of his columns for The Times newspaper, hit the nail on its head. Atherton wrote: “The 50-over game is suffering from more than administrative myopia; it is suffering an existential crisis that was probably inevitable in the wake of Twenty20. Sandwiched between the longest and shortest forms of the game, it neither appeases the traditionalists nor does what it was originally designed to do — to entertain and titillate — now that Twenty20 can do those things much better. Its sole purpose is financial.”
Former Indian wicket keeper Saba Karim agrees with that thought. “The ODIs were always exciting to play and they provided the administrators a lot of revenue,” he says. Now we have T20 doing that and in a much better way. While the general belief was that Test cricket rather than ODIs would face the wrath of T20, Karim says the former will survive come what may. “It’s still the ultimate aim of all youngsters to earn the Indian cap.”
It’s an opinion which Harsha Bhogle echoed on a television show. “I think you don’t need to worry about Test cricket as long as you produce sporting pitches because the history of the game will tell you that good pitches produce good cricket and bad pitches produce bad cricket.” However, Bhogle says that the ongoing Champions Trophy would be the litmus test for the format.
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Karim’s view about the revenue bit is, however, contested by many. “More cricket means more money, doesn’t it?” asks a confused former coach, Anshuman Gaekwad, who feels it needs to made more exciting. “The ICC should take this issue seriously or the ODIs will be extinct pretty soon,” he adds.
The suggestions made by players have not received a thumbs up from the ICC so far apart from a slight indication that they may ponder over Tendulkar’s idea of having four quarters of 25 overs each. Problem is, these ideas sound too vague, says Pravin Amre, coach of the Mumbai Ranji team. “Does cricket need so many formats?” asks Amre. The problem, according to Amre, lies in the 15th-40th over period of an ODI. “We know T20 is here to stay for good and test cricket will survive, so the casualty has to be the 50-over game.” What is the possiblity of a revival of this format if the suggestions of amendments are put into action? It’s worth giving them a shot, says Karim. “You never know, it might just do wonders for the game,” he adds. World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev was recently asked about it and disagreed with the idea. He was quoted as saying: “I don’t think you can have so many combinations and so many things. Every cricket — 20 overs, 50 overs and Test matches — has its own value so let us not muck around. The more you muck around the more you are going to spoil cricket.” Now “muck around” is an interesting phrase and the ECB has been the biggest name to start the mucking around. It did come as surprise — though not a shock — that the ECB decided to drop the format and said they want to “review the future of the format”. Former cricket captain Zaheer Abbas was vocal about how certain powerful boards might just push ODIs further and further away. Players so far have been optimistic about the format staying afloat, though amendments are necessary, they say.
Broadcasters and advertisers, meanwhile, find it viable to have a range of formats at the same time. “The more the merrier,” says a senior executive of a sports channel. Television ratings, however, in the last few ODI series have fallen, and now advertisers prefer to pump in money for T20 instead. “The eyeballs a T20 game guarantees cannot be matched by ODIs but there’s enough scope for ODIs as well,” says the executive.
The BCCI, on its part, has kept mum on the issue so far, though Lalit Modi mentioned making the format more attractive for the “consumer” who does not have the patient to sit through an eight-hour match and is looking for instant gratification instead.
So who takes the blame for this dwindling interest? “I don’t think anyone is to be blamed,” says Karim. With new and exciting formats, it’s time for a change, he says matter-of-factly. On his part, Gaekwad believes it’s upto the administrators to look into the issue. “There are still fans who are willing to sit for eight hours in the heat to enjoy the game and the authorities have to think about them,” he says.
The 2011 World Cup scheduled to be held in the subcontinent could very well be the last major ODI event. The ODIs seem to be in a twilight zone. All said and done, the ODI format will need to undergo some changes in order to restore its proud place on the ICC calendar. Will there be any turning back for the ODIs? We’ll wait and watch.