“7 ghante kiske paas he”- Ajay Jadeja echoes Ravi Shastri’s sentiments, says there is no harm in shortening the span of ODI cricket
Former Indian cricketer Ajay Jadeja has echoed ex-India head coach Ravi Shastri, saying there was no harm in reducing ODI cricket from 50 overs to 40 to make it more interesting.
During an interaction with India versus West Indies official broadcaster FanCode, Jadeja explained how digital rights played a key role beside the time span in helping T20 get an edge over one-dayers.
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Jadeja said:
"There was a time when ODI cricket had arrived and then lesser Test matches were being played because that is, again, more productive for the players, broadcasters and for the association.
"Broadcasters play a key role. If you notice, whichever gets the higher media rights that gets more popularity. ODI was expensive at one point of time."
He added:
"Then T20 came. Now their rights have increased and hence ODIs are being played less. But Test will forever remain. In fact, India are playing more Test match(es) now than they played 20-30 years back. But ODI... 7 ghante kiske paas he agar saare teen ghante me kaam chalta he?”
Ever since Ravi Shastri backed ex-Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi's talk of reducing the overs in one-dayers, the idea talk has started doing the rounds on the internet.
The debate over the future of one-dayers first gained pace after England all-rounder Ben Stokes announced shock retirement from the format. The 31-year-old’s decision came even as he played a pivotal role in helping England win their maiden 50-over World Cup in 2019.
One of the greatest knocks in a World Cup 🖤
Ben Stokes retires from ODI cricket as a England hero ✨
https://t.co/jmTt0w48Z6
"When we won the ODI World Cup in 1983, it was 60 overs" - Ravi Shastri feels overs between 20 and 40 hard to digest
Ravi Shastri, who was part of India’s maiden World Cup-winning team in 1983, feels that if ODIs can be reduced to 50 overs from 60 overs, they can further be shortened to 40 overs.
He feels that the slog-overs from 20 to 40 are tough to digest, i.e., when most teams mostly focus on strike rotation and building partnerships.
“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.
"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," he said on Fan Code.
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