World Cricket is growing very fast and with the increase in the number of Global T20 Leagues we often do end up seeing cricket matches being played across the year.
At the beginning there was only Test Cricket. Then came One Day Internationals. The T20 Cricket made its way in the mid 2000s and with the emergence of IPL now we are living in the era of Franchise Cricket. The craze and money involved in Franchise cricket is so huge that today all the major cricket playing nations are having a T20 League of their own.
The amount of cricket that is being played round the year is so high that it often takes a toll on a player's body and mind. That's why we often see players opting for indefinite breaks or taking retirement from a particular format to focus on the remaining.
Today, there are only a handful of players who prefer to play all the 3 Formats for their country and then play Franchise Cricket.
The ICC did a commendable job in promoting World Test Championship as the ultimate tournament for Test Cricket. It not only revived Test Cricket but also incorporated all the bilateral Test Series as part of the World Test Championship. The WTC as it is popularly called involves all the 9 major Test Playing Nations and the top 2 teams in the table get to play for the WTC Maze.
The format that has been affected the most in this hiatus is One Day Internationals. The advent of T20 Cricket has significantly diminished the craze for ODI Cricket and the retirement of Star English All Rounder Ben Stokes has ignited a fire where a lot of players will follow the same suit in the future.
Today we at Fantasy Arena will discuss 5 points on how to revive ODI Cricket.
1. Reduce the number of teams in ICC Cricket World Cup Super League:
Similar to WTC in Tests, ODI Cricket too has a league of its own which is known as CWC league. In CWC League, 13 teams which includes top 12 ODI teams based on rankings and the winner of the World Cricket League Championship.
The structure of the CWC League is given below:
Now given the tenure and comparatively easier qualification scenario, CWC League is not as popular as WTC. So if ICC can bring down the number of teams to 10 it will make the CWC league look more lively.
2. Do away with Bilateral ODI Series:
Bilateral ODI Series ie an ODI Series where two particular teams play a number of ODI Internationals against each other should be minimized as much as possible. Although CWC has capped the maximum number of ODIs to 3 but still it can be a tedious job if all the teams decide to play a bilateral series against each other.
3. Include more Triangular and Quadrangular Series:
We grew up in the era of Tri Series and Quadrangular Series where 3 or 4 Teams locked horns. This will not only reduce the time of travel but will also make the format more interesting. Also we can have a lot less number of series if this can be incorporated as part of the CWC.
4. Include other major trophies and cups as part of the ODI Calendar:
Some major cups and tournaments like the Asia Cup, Champions Trophy and CB Series have nowadays lost their importance and are often being discontinued to accommodate other series in the international calendar. But if efforts are given to hold this trophies after every consecutive years with a World Cup Qualification at stake, we might see a change in the attitude in ODI Cricket.
5. Reduce the number of teams in the ICC Cricket World Cup:
This might raise a few eye brows but if we analyze it carefully we will see that it will be a good move as we have already sorted out the best teams in the CWC Calendar. So making them participate in a Round Robin Tournament where the top 4 qualify for the Semis will be a good move in the long run.
6. Cap on a player's participation on the number of T20 Leagues:
We often see a player prioritizing Franchise Cricket over International Cricket because of the money involved in the former. But if the cricket boards across the world can cap a player's participation in T20 Leagues across the world then it will solve this issue. Also efforts should be given to make a player prioritize National Duty over Franchise Cricket.
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