Master Blaster suggests new format to make ODI cricket interesting
Sachin Tendulkar is widely revered as one of the most excellent players to have ever played the game. His records speaks for itself; despite having a fabulous record in ODI cricket, Tendulkar recently came forward to give his take on the 50-over format.
Tendulkar opined that the use of two new balls and modern day fielding restrictions are making the game very predictable. He also reflected on the fact that the new rules are making the format too difficult for the bowlers.
“It’s getting monotonous without any doubt. There are two parts. One is the current format, and the next is how I feel it should be played. Let me talk about the current format which has been there for a while now. When you have two new balls, it eliminates the reverse swing. Even though we are in the 40th over of the game, it’s actually the 20th over of that ball,” Tendulkar said at the India Today Conclave 2023.
We should be playing 25 overs first. Divide it into 4 halves, like in Test cricket: Sachin Tendulkar
Touching on how difficult the ODI format has become for the bowlers, Tendulkar also talked about how the format and modern day rules are affecting along with giving a solution to make ODI format interesting. Tendulkar seemed in favour of dividing the game into shorter durations per innings to make the game fair for both the opponents which gets impacted due to dew factor.
“Coming to the second bit, we should be playing 25 overs first. Divide it into 4 halves, like in Test cricket. In Tests, you have 20 wickets here you only have 10 wickets. If you are dismissed, you are out of the game for the next 25 overs as well. You can’t come back and bat,” Sachin iterated.
“Why I am saying this because we played a tournament in Sri Lanka where we played 118 overs without any result. On the first day, Sri Lanka batted first and we played 10 overs, the match was rained out. The match was again called off on the following day. We almost played 118 overs without any result,” the Mumbai-born further continued by providing his solution to change ODI format.
Futhermore, the legendary batter himself was a handy spinner. He gave some memorable performances over the years for India with the ball as well. While talking in favour of the spinners and how they are being impacted in a rather negative aspect under the current format of ODI cricket.
“Also for spinners, I have spoken to a few spinners. I was trying to understand their mindset with 5 fielders in the ring. The bowlers are saying that we don’t have the freedom to change our lines. Even if we know that, there is a possibility of batter making the mistake, if we change our line then we might have to pay a heavy price. They don’t have the protection now in the current format,” he said.
