Yeah. ODI cricket is rubbish.
The problem is that these type of ODI’s are far and few in between! I dont remember a single great ODI match in recent years.

Also it is wayyy tooo long! What happens next? Wow India won a thriller, but what next? Another ODI to follow that has no purpose.

If we want to keep ODI’s relevant, they have to get rid of bilateral series.

Infact both ODI and T20’s should only be played either in Triangular series or quadrangular series.

Like yesteryear’s, there is no rivalries. Cricket indeed has become a gentleman's game.
 
The problem is that these type of ODI’s are far and few in between! I dont remember a single great ODI match in recent years.

Also it is wayyy tooo long! What happens next? Wow India won a thriller, but what next? Another ODI to follow that has no purpose.

If we want to keep ODI’s relevant, they have to get rid of bilateral series.

Infact both ODI and T20’s should only be played either in Triangular series or quadrangular series.

Like yesteryear’s, there is no rivalries. Cricket indeed has become a gentleman's game.
It depends what is classed as a 'great' match. In the last month there's been a 3 run win for India, a 1 run win for New Zealand v Ireland, a 1 wicket win two matches before and a 4 run win by Sri Lanka v Australia.

Ball has been dominating bat more in most of the matches in that time (which is another complaint people have against ODIs). There's been eight 300+ scores in the last 50 innings. And six of them were in the close matches mentioned before. 13 times a team has been bowled out for less than 200.

I don't see how triangular or quadrangular series are any better than a bilateral? It's just more games and more pointless ones. Except in a mini league that no one will remember after a week.

Most of the ODIs being played in the last couple of years have had more meaning than most ODIs (outside of World Cups) have ever had because they are for qualification for a World Cup.

The problem isn't the formats it's the complete lack of structure and meaning in international cricket. This is a problem I've had with international cricket for years. It's one reason I think the IPL and other franchise tournaments resonate more than the majority of international series because there's something on the line.

There's nothing to stop the boards deciding to replicate that at the international level. Creating a T20 League, an ODI league to accompany the WTC. It could incorporate tri-series (this is how World League 2 works). Personally, I love the multi-format points that is used in women's cricket. There's no reason they couldn't have a World Championship that is ran over two or three years, with multi-format series, to replace the Test Championship that maintains the primacy of test cricket by having them as the bulk of the points. They choose not to do anything good because it is all short-sighted money-making rather than something that can actually hold people's interest and ultimately build a global sport.

If ODI cricket or List A cricket goes it'll be replaced by more, equally pointless, T20i bilateral and more franchise cricket.
 
It depends what is classed as a 'great' match. In the last month there's been a 3 run win for India, a 1 run win for New Zealand v Ireland, a 1 wicket win two matches before and a 4 run win by Sri Lanka v Australia.

Ball has been dominating bat more in most of the matches in that time (which is another complaint people have against ODIs). There's been eight 300+ scores in the last 50 innings. And six of them were in the close matches mentioned before. 13 times a team has been bowled out for less than 200.

I don't see how triangular or quadrangular series are any better than a bilateral? It's just more games and more pointless ones. Except in a mini league that no one will remember after a week.

Most of the ODIs being played in the last couple of years have had more meaning than most ODIs (outside of World Cups) have ever had because they are for qualification for a World Cup.

The problem isn't the formats it's the complete lack of structure and meaning in international cricket. This is a problem I've had with international cricket for years. It's one reason I think the IPL and other franchise tournaments resonate more than the majority of international series because there's something on the line.

There's nothing to stop the boards deciding to replicate that at the international level. Creating a T20 League, an ODI league to accompany the WTC. It could incorporate tri-series (this is how World League 2 works). Personally, I love the multi-format points that is used in women's cricket. There's no reason they couldn't have a World Championship that is ran over two or three years, with multi-format series, to replace the Test Championship that maintains the primacy of test cricket by having them as the bulk of the points. They choose not to do anything good because it is all short-sighted money-making rather than something that can actually hold people's interest and ultimately build a global sport.

If ODI cricket or List A cricket goes it'll be replaced by more, equally pointless, T20i bilateral and more franchise cricket.

I'll try to be a bit more objective than subjective this time in my assessment of ODIs. :p

I agree absolutely on every point being made that ODIs becoming irrelevant are just boards doing the planned obsolescence thing like Apple does with their products. It isn't an issue of money either as unlike tests ODIs do generate revenue and plenty of it. AFAIK ODIs generate more money than a T20I due to the length of it. T20Is are easier to plan and schedule and cram in though because of obvious reasons. ODIs in the 2000s were not any different from the ones now either. It was the same bilateral series with the same sides. Tri-series and quadrangular series were played compared to none these days but they were very infrequent compared to the 90s. ODIs also had nothing more than pride and accomplishment back then too, they were meaningless beyond that. What changed?

I still do think that ODIs need to die eventually in the near future. The ten team World Cup was a serious self-inflicted wound that hastened the decline of it in many ways that will only be felt as time progresses by. No other format has suffered as many rule changes as ODIs just to stay relevant. Now the talk is of wanting to revert rules that were previously put in place to prevent the middle overs being an absolute snooze. Once that is done we'll have the latter as the primary complaint once again.

Before ODIs die though I'd rather see the entire current structure of cricket collapse and a new one be formed. One that is clear on where domestic and international cricket stand and one that actually focuses on the growth of cricket rather than the current mess that just seems interested in preserving the status quo for teams and formats. Cricket is in dire need of actual, meaningful innovation rather than the pointless gimmicks that seem to be only done for the shock factor every other year to try to stay desperately relevant.

Anyways rant over.
 
Coming back to this series, here's a few random thoughts of mine from the first game.

  • Motie looks like a really good spinner for West Indies. Doesn't matter that him and Hosein bowl the same type if the former is this good IMO. He needs to play a lot more.
  • This West Indies side desperately misses Hetty. Imagine him in the top order instead of King or Brooks wasting deliveries to go after the opposition. They might have won the game. The sooner his differences are sorted out with the board the better.
  • Mayers has been adapting to white ball cricket well enough. Seems like the sort of player who'll do better in international cricket than domestic due to the added spotlight. Wonder where he plays once Lewis is back. The latter's also out for fitness reasons like Hetty. His return will boost this side well. Maybe Hope gets the axing finally after a middling year?
  • I know he's supposed to be a big hitter but Powell hasn't completely shown his best hitting abilities in ODIs yet. Hasn't been helped by his side's tendency to collapse for low run-rates in recent times but he's still capable of much more.
  • Which brings me to the question of what this ODI side is trying to accomplish? They seem to lack an identity at the moment. Back in 2019 they had the tactic of Hope being the anchor whilst everyone else just plays as a slogger which was fun when it worked and downright disastrous when it did not. The current side doesn't quite pack that punch. They're playing sedate cricket on tough pitches and only score at par if not below par on docile pitches. There's still a year to go for the ODI WC and as usual I have no idea of what their supposed ideal XI is to be. I doubt they do either. They're yet to finalise their pace unit too. Joseph will be a starter for certain. The other names are question marks at the moment.
  • As for the Indian side I was puzzled to see Samson play ahead of Kishan. The latter was ahead of the former all along till now and suddenly Samson plays? I still laugh at how much support Samson gets as a first team option for our ODI side based on his recent impressive IPL performances as the bloke still hasn't shown a modicum of consistency in List A cricket. I do hope that Dravid is not seeing Kishan as an opener only option moving forward as Kishan was a number five in the India A setup and should be groomed there as the backup keeper instead of being shoehorned into the already crowded opening slots.
  • Gill looked super comfortable when he played. We desperately need to play him a lot more as his mistakes seem to be one of inexperience and few technical issues that will be sorted out once he figures his game at the highest level. We'd run the risk of a great talent stagnating if he were to be wandering about in the domestic scene because we had to try out other, more experienced domestic options first.
  • I do hope Hooda can get past his horrific form in List A cricket and play well in ODIs because he is a handy bowling option when needed. I still think it would be a mistake to have him as the sixth bowling option though. I'd prefer two all-rounders instead at six and seven even if it weakens our batting.
  • Thakur is such an enigma. As long as he remains an enigma for us I presume he'll be the same to the opposition which is why he seems to work. May it long last.
 
Our finger-spinners have kept a tight lid on proceedings in the middle overs. I have faith in us chasing even a total of 330 today barring a collapse.
 
I’m seriously questioning Hope’s spot in a modern ODI now.
 

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