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Ravi Shastri Backs THIS Opinion By Shahid Afridi On ODI Cricket

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has shared his thoughts on the downfall of One Day Internationals (ODIs). He has echoed the opinion of former Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi on making some changes to the format. Shastri feels that ODI’s needs to be shortened from 50 to 40 overs. He feels its important that the number of overs are cut down to make sure that ODIs don’t fade away.

The 50 over format has seen a lack of interest amongst fans due to the emergence of T20I’s. A lot of T20 leagues have started around the world gathering huge audiences as fans remain interested in viewing the shorter formats. The Test format, on the other hand, was expected to be hit by the emergence of T20 internationals. However, that’s not the case as it is starting to gain more and more popularity.

With teams chasing down totals in the fourth innings, fans have remained attached to the longest format of cricket. This leaves the ODI format in jeopardy which was also propelled with Ben Stokes’ retiring from the format despite being just 31 years old.

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Earlier, Shahid Afridi had suggested that ODI’s should be cut down to 40 overs instead of 50. He shared how the format is not as interesting as it was back in the day. The former Pakistani all-rounder spoke during an interview with Samaa TV after Stokes’ retirement. He said, “One-day cricket has become quite boring now. I would suggest to cut ODI cricket from 50 overs to 40 overs in order to make it entertaining.”

Check out Ravi Shastri’s comments on ODI cricket

Shastri emulated Afridi’s words sharing how the ODI’s started as 60 over games when he won the World Cup back in 1983. He goes on to add how the stating that shortening the span is the way to move forward. The 60-year-old spoke on Fancode during India’s second ODI against West Indies.

He said, “There is no harm in shortening the span of the game. When one-day cricket started, it was of 60 overs. When we won the World Cup in 1983, it was of 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. “

Shastri went on to add, “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.”

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