Ever since the retirement of England all-rounder Ben Stokes from ODIs, many are speculating about the future of the 50-over format. A lot of former cricketers have also expressed their concern with the growing cricket calendar and how players need to stay fresh. Now, former Team India head coach Ravi Shastri has backed calls for reducing the number of overs in ODIs, saying ODIs have been played for 50 overs for far too long.
During the commentary stint on FanCode for the second ODI between India and West Indies, Shastri said: “There is no harm in shortening the span of the game. When ODIs started, it was 60 overs. When we won the World Cup in 1983, it was 60 overs. After that, people thought that 60 overs were a bit too long. People found that span of overs between 20 to 40 hard to digest. So they reduced it from 60 to 50.
“So, years have gone by now since that decision so why not reduce it from 50 to 40 now. Because you got to be forward-thinking and evolve. It stayed for 50 for too long,” he added.
Some food for thought from @RaviShastriOfc in the #NoFilter commentary feed in 2nd ODI! #WIvIND
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Earlier, Shastri had said that only the top-six teams should get to play Test cricket and the sport can be spread to different countries through white-ball cricket.
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“If you want Test cricket to survive you cannot have 10, 12 teams playing. Keep the top six, keep the quality of cricket going and respect quality over quantity. That’s the only way you open up a window for other cricket to be played. Expand teams in T20 or one-day cricket if you want to spread the game, but in Test cricket, you will have to reduce the teams, then it does not matter if England does not go to West Indies or if West Indies does not come to England,” Shastri had said on Sky Sports.
“If they are in the top-six, they play and if they are not in the top six, they do not play. Whether, it is India, Australia, or England, you have to qualify for that top-six, if you want to be around playing Test matches. If you want to spread the game, do it with the white ball, ideally T20 cricket. Bottom line, it is the football model, you are going to have the World Cup, one big one and the rest of it would be different leagues around the world,” he added.
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