Is_It_the_End_of_Odi_Cricket_

Is it the end of ODI Cricket' Cricket is not a game of bat and ball. It is an internal struggle, a war waged between a man and himself. The opposition is merely a convenience. The game of cricket is the second most popular game in the world, second only to soccer. Cricket always had a very eventful and colourful history and with various formats from Test, ODI and T Twenty coming into the fray the future for the game looks dynamic. Young men in Australia and England grow up hoping to one day "play for the ashes" same as an Indian might well hope to take guard against the likes of Pakistan at the Eden. It is a sport steeped in tradition and its fans are loyal. Test cricket undoubtedly draws on the deepest emotions of the players and supporters alike, it creates the biggest rivalries and provides by far the most intense of matches. One Day Cricket on the other hand proved to be the thrust the game needed to elevate it into the global arena in the late 60s, and when it was said that cricket has reached its stagnation point, there came along the game changer T 20 format. T 20 transformed the way batsmen played, and the way bowlers bowled. The dot ball became the Holy Grail in this format and it started drawing big crowds. Now with almost 10 years in the game T 20 has become the biggest marketing tool for the game of cricket. But does that mean it’s about time we move on beyond Test cricket or ODIs' There are many who have started writing early obituaries of Test cricket and there are a lot more who still are loyal towards the longest version of the game. It is a point to note that when One Day International came into being similar thoughts were echoed of Test cricket getting extinct, but for some reason it did not and rather surprisingly it came out strongly as ever with the first ever tied Test match in the early 70s to recapture the lost interest. Even now with the taking over of T 20, doubts on Test’s endurance are being questioned more frequently. But as always it seem to have an answer, and the answer is many a riveting test matches we have witnessed in recent times. The English bowlers defending their fort against the mighty South Africans batting out an entire session, The Indian resurgence against the Australians at Eden Garden are just two examples to quote. So does that mean there are no issues regarding the T 20 dominance' Well the issue might be there and it might be eventually of survival, but not of Test Cricket but of One day International. The last ODI World Cup in the West Indies was an embarrassing fiasco on many fronts where it attempted its own suicide. Taking a closer look at the ICC calendar one might note, that the numbers of One Day Internationals are getting diminished. We no longer are seeing any 7 match ODI series neither have we seen a tri series taking place in any part of the world in recent memory. Voices are being raised of re inventing the ODI game to make it more T 20 based. Pro 40 format is being experimented in green lush outfield of England whereas the Australian domestic circuit has restructured the entire ODI format to 45 overs and 2 innings of 20 and 25 overs respectively. These all seem to be desperate measure to sustain One Day International cricket. But will it survive; will ODI be able to sustain itself as Test has done for 122 years running'