ODI cricket needs to return to basics
The viability of ODIs in the wake of Twenty20 cricket has been a subject of much discussion in recent months
Siddhartha Talya
25-Feb-2013
The viability of ODIs in the wake of Twenty20 cricket has been a subject of much discussion in recent months. There have been suggestions made by current and former cricketers to liven up the format, but Michael Atherton, writing in the Times, feels the best way to keep ODIs alive is to deregulate it so that it becomes less formulaic or predictable.
If captains could place their fielders where they wanted to, rather than where regulations dictate, there is a chance they might start to think again and a chance that one side’s tactics might differ significantly from another’s. If a captain could bowl his best bowler for more than the stipulated ten overs, there is a chance that he would and that attacking cricket played by the best players would become more a feature of a one-day match. Powerplays dictate the pace of the game to batsmen; do without them and watch batsmen take the initiative again.
Siddhartha Talya is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo