Appeal to save ODI cricket

Kapil Dev has appealed to the ICC i.e. International Cricket Council to save Test and ODI cricket. T20 leagues have become so much now that the engagement and pressure on the players has increased tremendously. This is probably why England’s Ben Stokes retired from ODI cricket. Australia’s Usman Khawaja is calling ODIs boring, while England’s Moeen Ali believes that after two years either Tests or T20s will be played, no one wants to play ODIs. On the other hand, South Africa has canceled the one-day cricket series with Australia to be held in January due to the need of time for its domestic league.

The ICC wants all the boards to strike a balance between their domestic league and international cricket. But Kapil Dev believes that this responsibility rests with the ICC. He should see how to save ODI cricket and Test cricket.

According to the schedule announced by the ICC from next year to 2031, there will be four T20 World Cups in which twenty teams will participate, while there will be two ODI World Cups in which only fourteen teams will play. It is clear that the ICC itself wants to feed more T20s to weak or new teams. This is in a sense the influence and intimidation of a league like the IPL. Perhaps this is the reason why even a player like Cheteshwar Pujara, while playing for Sussex in the Royal London One Day Cup, hits 22 runs in an over against Warwickshire. Keep in mind, Cheteshwar Pujara is the only one in India whom the whole country considers to be a purely Test batsman.