Dark clouds hover over ODI format days after World Cup

The ICC World Cup 2023 on Sunday came to a dynamic and celebratory end with Australia being crowned sixtime champions but the jury remains out on the future of the ODI format whose relevance in modernday cricket is being debated for some time nowIndia is the heartbeat of world cricket and nearpacked stadiums for majority of World Cup games over the course of 45day long event was expected at the spiritual home of the game It was not a surprise that India has delivered the most attended ICC ODI World Cup everMore than a record 125 million people thronged the stadiums but the same buzz and fanfare will most likely be missing when there is a bilateral series happening anywhere in the world including India The players and the purists love Test cricket while T20 is the format that enjoys unmatched popularity and is being used as a tool to spread the game globally The attention spans are shorter than ever in the digital age and not all have the time and zeal to spend eight hours for an ODI gameAlso ReadICC World Cup 2023 sets alltime tournament attendance record of 125 millionThe ICC event in India has shown that the format has plenty of takers if it is a world event but the bilateral ODIs dont inspire the same confidence going ahead That begs the question Should ODIs only be played in a World Cup year If not then should the format be tweaked on the advice of legends like Wasim Akram and Sachin TendulkarThe format is not high on priority for most teams with India featuring only in six ODIs next year and Pakistan dont have any match scheduled till November 2024 even though they host the Champions Trophy the following yearDuring the ICC World Cup 2023 Akram opined that the format should be reduced to a 40 overs a side while Tendulkar wants to break the ODIs to four innings of 25 overs each to break the monotonyI have a problem with ODI cricket right now Very rarely do you see nowadays in Oneday cricket something interesting happen in those middle 30 overs Just go to 40 overs youll have more action during that period I dont know if its 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 lesser than the nineties because of T20 format and because of social media We have to adapt Akram told Fox SportsHis menacing bowling partner Waqar Younis also expressed his views on the subject in the middle of the World Cup he was commentating onODI cricket is too friendly for batters Suggestion ICC 2 new balls to start take away 1 ball after 30 overs continue with the other At the end that ball will only be 35 overs old Well see some reverse at the end Save the art of ReverseSwing he posted on social mediaHowever the comments of Cummins after the World Cup triumph on Sunday night were a good advert for the ODI format Unlike the slam bang T20 format ODI cricket is played in gears and does challenge the cricketers moreI must say maybe because we won I did fall in love with ODI again this World Cup I think the scenario where every game really matters it does mean a bit different to just a bilateral he acknowledgedTwo Indian fans who travelled the length and breadth of the country following the team in the ICC World Cup 2023 had a time to remember but they too want immediate changes to how the 50over game is playedAlso ReadEnd fingerpointing accept loss move on PatilIn the current scenario it should be two innings of 20 overs each packed into six hours Toss and conditions get nullified to a certain extent Eight hours is way too long and needs to change said Gurgaonbased Inderpreet Khurana referring to the World Cup final where the evening dew made batting easier for AustraliaAtirav Kapur who travelled to Chennai Kolkata Ahmedabad Dharamsala and Lucknow for the India games in the league stage is a fan of ODI cricket but doesnt see it surviving in its current versionGiven that the biggest ever ICC rights deal has been signed recently and a big chunk of that is the 2027 ODI WC I think ODIs will be forced to survive Though on the whole its bound to slowly wind up I dont think audiences can sustain watching a game for 7 hours anymore its too long for a single dayWith agency inputs