Cricket's wonderful one-day international format is now in peril. Its popularity started to decline from the 2007 World Cup which proved to be a great damp squib.
The tournaments preceding it proved to be one-sided as the toss decided the winner. To add insult to injury, the sudden success of the 2007 Twenty20 World Cup brought the fate of ODIs into scrutiny.
Now, most cricketers and commentators openly state that they want the ICC to scrap the ODI format. So, should Twenty20 replace ODI matches permanently? Will we lose those wonderful 50-over contests for ever?
Before we answer this question, let us find the reasons for the decline of popularity of the ODI format.
The reasons for the splurge in popularity:
1) As they always say, “Too much of anything is good for nothing”. The same held true for one-day internationals. Prior to 1996, the highest number of ODIs played by a team was 36 per year - and the average less than twice the number being played today. Teams such as Pakistan and India played 20-25 ODIs per year in the early '90s - and more than 36 during the mid 2000s. The quality of ODIs went down drastically as it increased.
2) Wear and tear: With the huge amount of cricket played in recent years, many old and upcoming players succumbed regularly to injuries. Thus, many matches turned out to be one-sided affairs due to absence of key players. The presence of key players in a team is vital for the interest of the audience. People would much rather see a New Zealand match where a Shane Bond terrifies the lives of opposition batsmen than a match where New Zealand bowlers get thrashed around.
3) The lack of sportive pitches: Fans invest a hell a lot of money and time to watch an ODI match. When they realise that a side batting first is going to lose the match because the pitch is a batting paradise and even a total of 350 is chaseable, they straightaway get disappointed. An ODI match played on a batting paradise is going to be as interesting as a pot-boiler.
4) Retirements of many great bowlers: In the golden period of ODIs, we saw many matches being decided only after the 47th over of the second innings. We also saw many sides defending modest totals of 150-160.
There were many nail-biting matches in the 1996 World Cup, nothing more exciting than the semi-final between West Indies and Australia, where a brave Shivnarine Chanderpaul batted brilliantly only to see Shane Warne and other Aussies bowlers induce a spectacular collapse paving the way for a five-run victory.
Then there was the 1999 Australia v South Africa semi-final, where Warne wrecked the top order until Lance Klusener threatened to finish off Australia only to be denied by a historic run-out. How many matches have the reverse-swinging duo of Wasim Akram/Waqar Younis won for Pakistan?
ODIs flourished thanks to presence of greats such as Donald, De Villiers, Ambrose, Walsh, Bishop, Warne, Cairns, Murali, McGrath, Srinath and others. Even a weak team such as Zimbabwe had strong bowlers such as Eddo Brandes and Heath Streak. Today, there is a severe dearth of good bowlers.
So, what steps should the ICC take to revive ODIs?
1) Restrict the maximum number of ODIs played by a side to 30-35 per year.
2) Create a global pitch report committee which ensures that only sportive tracks are prepared.
3) Bring in new rules that evoke interest.
* Allow bowlers to bowl two bouncers per over
* Allow dual run-outs (enabling fielders to run out batsmen at both ends if they are out of their creases),
* Award eight runs to the batsmen if he hits the ball out of the stadium
* Allow LBW appeals to be forwarded to the third umpire
* Allow substitute players to bat/bowl if required.
Follow a three-ball-miss rule: If a batsman plays and misses three consecutive deliveries, then he must face the fourth ball exposing two of his stumps.
4) Do away with the Duckworth-Lewis method which makes rain-interrupted matches a lottery (remember the England-South Africa semi-final in the 1992 World Cup?).
As great cricketers say, T20 is like the burger - having lots of burgers ruins your appetite and is hazardous to health. It is up to the ICC and fans to decide whether to kill or retain ODIs.
This article was published in www.sportingo.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment