Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram says the success of the World Twenty20 could spell the end of one-day international cricket in its current format.Wasim believes the 50-over game is in jeopardy as the public are more interested in the shorter, more explosive form of the game.
“Twenty20 cricket already has the potential to replace the ODIs as the most populist version of the sport,” Wasim said."The Twenty20 World Cup has been a big success in terms of the interest it has evoked and people coming in to the grounds.“You didn’t get such big crowds and excitement even in the World Cup in West Indies.”
100% right. ODI is a cash cow that allows us to have test cricket, and 20/20 is a more suitable game for the market. It serves the purpose of creating a short form of the game, and does it better then 50/50.
Initially I used to think Twenty20 might just strike the death nail on Test Cricket. But lately its beginning to dawn upon me that its not the tests , its the ODIs that face extinction in the face of Twenty20s.
Maybe 50-over games and 50-over WC should also stay because they test your skills as a team more than this shorter version. Each series between test teams could then consist of atleast three tests, three ODIs and 3 T-Ts which would still mean less workload for the players than the traditional 5 or even 7 ODIs per series.
We may now regularly see sides setting or chasing down 300-350 totals in 50-over games. Players can use the T-T experience to play unorthodox shots in the last 5-10 overs of a 50-over game. We already see that but we might see more of it