The One-Day International or 50-over cricket revolutionized cricket in the '70s and '80s and played a huge role in the proliferation of the game around the world, bringing in coloured clothing, more excitement and more people to the ground.
But what was once the most popular form of the game is now been pushed to the brink by the shortest format of the game -- the T20 and more importantly, the franchise version that has mushroomed all over the world.
England's white-ball captain Jos Buttler on Wednesday admitted that the 50-over game has been pushed to the margins and is struggling to survive because of franchise cricket which has caused scheduling issues for ODIs.
Buttler himself has played no ODI game in 2024 and his last 50-over match was as part of the ODI series against West Indies in December 2023.
Though England, under Buttler, will be playing three ODIs against India, starting with the first match in Nagpur on Thursday (Feb 6) followed by the Champions Trophy in Pakistan and Dubai, the team has played five ODIs in 2024, which Buttler incidentally missed because he was indisposed. Their opponent on Thursday, India has played only three 50-over matches in 2024.
It's certainly been pushed a little bit towards the margins in the recent years and the way scheduling is and obviously the rise of T20 and franchise cricket (has played its role). But I still believe if you talk to guys about winning a World Cup, they'd probably say a 50-over World Cup ahead of a T20 World Cup at the moment.
Whether that continues to be the case moving forward, I don't know. But the schedules are always the thing.
The England captain said personally, he favours ODI cricket over the shorter format.
I'm sure, to be honest, I think, you know, I enjoyed 50-over cricket. It's always been one of my favourite formats actually.
The 34-year-old wicketkeeper batter, however, said people will come to watch if two good teams are playing, whatever the format.
If you can get the best players on the park playing against each other in whatever the format, I think people are always going to be excited to watch it.
The ODI game had also become predicted and boring because teams were following the same pattern. Ironically, a few years back, many experts were talking about the future of Test cricket looking bleak because of the white-ball cricket. But with the World Test Championship gaining importance, the red-ball version of the game seems to have survived the onslaught of franchise cricket.
With the 50-over format facing question marks over its future because of franchise cricket, the administrators of the game need to take string action to revive it. It is time to give the 50-over version the push it deserves.
