ODI cricket suffering from middle child syndrome

The Cricket South Africa (CSA), in July this year, scrapped an ODI series against Australia in order to ensure participation of their star players in the inaugural edition of the franchise-based SA20 league. The consciously made decision could have endangered their chances of qualifying directly for the ODI World Cup. 

A few months before that, the commitment of a host of England cricketers to the Pakistan Super League (PSL) left the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in a fix and in the end, many were unavailable for their tour of Bangladesh. 

England's World Cup-winning opener Jason Roy terminated his incremental contract to take up an agreement with the Major League Cricket (MLC), another first-timer. A few of his compatriots are considering the same move. 

Quinton de Kock, the prolific South African opener, decided to retire from ODIs after the World Cup. The announcement came after his availability in the ODI series against India in December became an issue because of his participation in the Big Bash League (BBL). 

The unavailability of the West Indies stars for international games for franchise league commitments is nothing new and it is directly or indirectly responsible for the downfall of their cricket. 

These are just a few examples showing why and how these lucrative T20 leagues are devouring the international calendar especially ODIs.

The 50-over format is neither here nor there. Test cricket is revered by cricketers and T20 cricket is preferred because of the shortness of the game and easy money. 

The first T20 domestic league was founded in 2003 by England but it was the Indian Premier League (IPL), which began in 2008, started a monumental shift. The two-month long tournament has an exclusive window in the ICC Future Tours Programme (FTP). As of 2022, the brand value of the tournament was US$11 billion and its 2023 final was the most live-streamed event. 

Since the birth and instant success of the IPL, many countries launched their own franchise leagues modelled on the IPL and it has become increasingly difficult to stop players from participating in them, sometimes even at the expense of international cricket. 

Amid this surge, the number of ODIs has greatly decreased. It has a lot to do with the growing reluctance of the spectators to watch a nine-hour long game where there is enough T20 cricket available all over the world. 

The Asia Cup remains the only multinational ODI tournament taking place on a regular basis. Triangular or quadrangular ODI series are not in vogue anymore. Since 2008, the IPL's birth year, the number of ODIs per year (until the end of 2022) has been 132. 161 ODIs were played per year between 2000 and 2007. 

Many cricketers and experts feel ODI cricket has lost its might and it's difficult for the format to co-exist with the much-faster T20.

The MCC too has recommended limiting the number of ODIs after the 2027 World Cup.

The now-defunct Cricket Max, invented by New Zealand's Martin Crowe, was an attempt to make the format more interesting. Sachin Tendulkar, who won a Player of the Match award in one such game, believes the format needs to be rejigged and given a fresher look. 

"The 50-over format is the first thing that needs a look-in. As I had suggested, the format needs a tweak of two innings of 25 overs per side with a 15-minute break between each innings [a total of four innings between two teams]. The number of innovations that can be brought in are huge," he said.

India and Bangladesh can get sell-out crowds in ODI series but it's not the case when it comes to other cricketing nations. The broadcasters also don't find bilateral ODI series too lucrative. 

Five-match bilateral ODI series have become almost non-existent. Since the 2019 World Cup, there have been only three five-match series whereas the number was 42 between the 2015 and 2019 editions. 

The attention span of people is decreasing day by day and that's why former cricketer and now broadcaster Ravi Shastri said, "For One-Day cricket to survive, I think it should be reduced to a 40-over game in future. The reason I say this is because when we won the World Cup in 1983, it was a 60-over (a side) game. Then the attention span of the people diminished and it became a 50-over game. I think the time has come for it to become a 40-over game."

Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja, who led the run chart in the Ashes this year, believes the ODI is currently the third-ranked format and is dying a "slow death".

While Test cricket - "the real thing" for Shastri, "the pinnacle" for Khawaja - is still the most respected format, T20 has grown as the most loved one. The ODI format is now suffering from a middle child syndrome and it won't be surprising if it becomes an ICC event only format in near future.