Sport360° view: Windies withdrawal raises questions over future of ODIs

Ajit Vijaykumar 07:18 20/10/2014
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  • Seeking context in ODIs India’s move to invite Sri Lanka and fill the gap left by West Indies devalues bilateral 50-over clashes

    The sheer absurdity of the way the West Indies’ tour of India came to an end brought with it a bagful of questions regarding the way the sport is being handled by the administrators.

    Here was a full series between two Test nations in the cricketing financial centre of the world. With India not having much of a domestic season this time, the series was crucial for the finances of the Indian cricket board.

    But an internal dispute in the West Indies’ camp has put a hole in the BCCI’s pocket – said to be around $65m – and there are talks of the Indian board consider­ing cutting off ties with the West Indies Cricket Board.

    If the Indian board does go ahead and sue their counterparts, West Indies cricket will be in disar­ray.

    They will have to move heaven and earth if they are forced to compensate for the loss and if their pay dispute with players doesn’t end soon, will surely see a few early retirements.

    As the Caribbean stars are keen to play in the T20 leagues all around the world and won’t want to be dependent on getting No Objection Certificates from their board to play in tournaments like the IPL, the players might see retirement as the easier option.

    What this means is West Indies’ cricket could go into a coma and they might not come out it for a long, long time. Veteran commen­tator Tony Cozier went ahead and said he doesn’t see the Caribbean side playing at next year’s World Cup if the impasse continues. This is by far the greatest adversity West Indies’ cricket has faced in recent times.

    On their part, the BCCI are trying their best to pick up the pieces following the storm created by West Indies’ players and administrators.

    To plug the gap in their domestic calendar, the Indians have asked Sri Lanka to play a five-match ODI series. The Sri Lankans have obliged and it looks like we will see India play some cricket at home in November. Disaster seems to have been averted as far as Indian cricket is concerned but where does all this leave one-day cricket? Especially bilateral series.

    What does such a series mean to an average cricket fan? Every Test match remains relevant in the absence of a World Cup for the five day format and T20 International matches will never lose interest because there are Twenty20 leagues all around the world and the format is abuzz throughout the year.

    But ODIs? There is, of course, the World Cup and the Champions Trophy has just been revived after being dumped, but the 50-over format doesn’t have much context to it for the most part.

    Test cricket is the ultimate battle between bat and ball and T20 is a format the entire family can enjoy and consume in three and a half hours. One-day series seem like an arduous journey without any destination.

    Ask yourself this question: Does a seven match ODI series between India and Australia, or England and Australia, make any sense? Would you remember the fourth match of that series? The answer is simple but that doesn’t seem to matter.

    One-day cricket is here to stay, simply because it continues to make money. They generate a decent amount of revenue in international cricket as Tests don’t garner as much money from sponsors, England and Australia being the exception. So we are basically stuck with another round of India-Sri Lanka limited overs skirmish (see box).

    But there is a way the situation can be tweaked without affecting cricket boards’ finances. Instead of five match ODI series in a tour, why not have full tours with three or more Tests, three Twenty20 matches and three ODIs?

    If we keep the number of one-day and T20 matches level, fans will get more T20 international matches which is still played in very low numbers, generally a one-off match per tour. That way, T20 players will get to showcase their talent at the international stage while meaningless 50-over matches can be done away with.

    There will be instances where full tours are not possible and Tests or limited overs matches only series are feasible. An exception can always be made but it’s high time administrators realise that stuffing more ODI matches down the fans’ throats won’t do any good to the health of cricket.

    The reality is the Indian cricket board fell back on a tried and tested formula when they were left high and dry by the West Indies. Fans might be sick of seeing India play Sri Lanka but their boards don’t seem to mind. Rest assured, any lessons learnt in this haphazard ODI series won’t do either team any good on the pacy wickets Down Under during the World Cup.

    Two wrongs never make a right but by inviting Sri Lanka to play a meaningless ODI series – and that too with five games – after being ditched by the Windies, the BCCI is attempting just that.

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