Are ODIs in decline?

On the basis of the balance of probability, chances are that if you're reading this, you're a Bangladeshi sports fan. A Bangladesh cricket fan to be precise. 

Now if that really is the case, you won't be the only person out there who would worry about the eventual outcome of the headline above. 

Despite being only 15 months away from the marquee ICC event, the 50-over Cricket World Cup, it feels as if there is a buzz around the cricketing fraternity that this specific format of the game has probably outstayed its welcome. 

As Bangladesh fans, we will have to take this in with a pinch of salt because this is the only format in which our Tigers are arguably one of the best in the world but for now, let's take off our Bangladesh hats and try to dissect what actually is going on at present, and also, what lies ahead in the future of the ODI format which was once the crown jewel of the sport but now faces the threat of extinction.

The debate has spiraled up recently following a couple of events but it was jolted massively with the sudden untimely retirement of 2019 World Cup winner Ben Stokes from the ODI format. And to add fuel to this, Pakistan legend Wasim Akram, who himself is a World Cup winner, suggested that teams should just stop playing this format because to him it makes no sense. 

"T20 is easier, four hours before the game is over. The leagues all around the world, there is a lot more money - I suppose this is part and parcel of modern cricket. T20 or Test cricket. One-day cricket is kind of dying," Akram stated.

For Stokes, it was just an unbearable workload that prompted an early retirement. Nevertheless, the question beckons as to why he opted out of ODIs rather than any of the other two formats.

If we look at the last few years closely, especially since the culmination of the 2019 Cricket World Cup, it is clear that boards and players across the world have been very ignorant of the 50-over game. 

Now leaving Test cricket aside, could it really be the advent of T20s that is plaguing the ODI format?

The ignorance shown towards ODIs can be looked at from two different perspectives- the commercial perspective which involves the boards and the investors, and the sporting perspective which involves the players' will to partake in this format.

In terms of commercialisation, investors are currently more interested in the T20s. That is why the cricket boards are more interested in conducting a series of 20 overs than the ODI series. 

New Zealand, the runner-up in the 2019 Cricket World Cup, in their home season in 2020 had played 16 international matches in which they only played three ODIs.

West Indies, in their Home season of 2021, played 22 international matches, of which only three were ODIs. In addition to that, their players are more busy playing league cricket than playing with their nation.

That shows that the board is not interested in conducting an ODI series because they are not gaining as much as they gain through T20is.

Such is the severity of the situation that Cricket South Africa this past week forfeited their ODI series against Australia, a move that puts at risk their qualification for the 2023 Cricket World Cup, in order to prioritise the launch of their own domestic T20 tournament.

"The reality for countries like us," Cricket South Africa CEO Pholetsi Moseki explained," is that you only make money when you play India. In the post-Covid year, we hosted England and Australia and we still made a loss. So we have to look at other options."

India. The Angel Gabriel and Grim Reaper of international cricket, capable of providing life with their presence and death with their absence, are in effect so powerful that they are the lifeblood of the rest of the game.

Last year, a number of South African cricketers - Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Quinton de Kock, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi - skipped a series-deciding ODI against Pakistan to take part in the IPL. 

And just a few days ago, Australia batter Usman Khawaja said he is "not into one-day cricket as much" and the format is dying a "slow death".

"I think personally one-day cricket is dying a slow death...there's still the World Cup, which I think is really fun and it's enjoyable to watch, but other than that, even myself personally, I'm probably not into one-day cricket as much either," Khawaja said.

But you can't really scrap ODI cricket for good. We know that television broadcasting rights is one of the most lucrative aspects of sports and ODIs are unique just because in a 100-over game, you could run your advertisements a bare minimum of 100 times during a 7-8 hour period. No other format or sport for that matter can pull that off. 

When ODIs came into existence, it was the new cool kid on the block. It garnered all the attention and test cricket was left stranded because ODI cricket was providing all the excitement in a shorter span of time. From where things stand, it seems that T20 cricket is dealing the same blow to ODI cricket that ODIs dealt to Test cricket. 

T20s have had a huge positive impact on how the 50-over game is played these days but in return, it has also taken away the glamour and attraction that ODIs used to have in the past. However, with all that said, it is safe to say that the game has turned out to be a slave for the commercial gain of investors and boards.