When R Ashwin recently referred to ODI cricket as “redundant” on one of his YouTube streams, it wasn’t merely a throwaway line. For years, the 50-over format was the game’s middle ground: longer than T20s and more expressive than Tests. It was also cricket’s commercial engine throughout the 1990s and 2000s, often drawing eyeballs and revenue as Test cricket began to show signs of decline.
But ahead of a year which will see the T20 World Cup and the IPL played back-to-back, with T20 cricket dominating the cricket calendar for four consecutive months, concerns around how the ODI format may survive in modern cricket have resurfaced.
Ashwin has not been alone in raising those concerns. While speaking at an Idea Exchange hosted by The Indian Express last year, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting said that batsmanship against spin had declined as the ODI format declined. “The rhythm and tempo of one-day batting is not like it used to be because of how much T20 cricket is being played. In the 50-over game now, teams are trying to play it like a longer T20 game,” had said. “The stuff that made the best 50-over players what they were, maybe some of that has gone.”
These greats of the game have plenty of cause for concern, with lesser ODIs played and a haphazard way in which they are scheduled.
Since January 1, 2021, among India, England, and Australia, it is India who have played the most ODIs, with 82 matches. England and Australia have played 68 and 64 ODIs, respectively. Outside the Big 3, South Africa have featured in 72 matches while New Zealand played even fewer (45).
By contrast, T20Is have steadily increased, often outnumbering ODIs outside World Cup years. Since January 1, 2021, India have played 126 T20Is. England and Australia have played an equal number of matches (88). South Africa have played 73, while New Zealand have featured in 61 T20Is.
Different countries have shown different scheduling priorities. Teams like India still leverage ODIs for commercial opportunities, especially with the two batting superstars, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, now only turning up in that format. But others are leaning more heavily on Test cricket and T20Is.
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Scheduling quagmire
Chief among Ashwin’s concerns for ODIs is the format’s relevance to the administrators, highlighting the breakless staging of multi-team tournaments has led to “an overkill”.
“Every year, there is an ICC tournament for revenue generation,” he said. “Too many bilaterals, too many formats, too many World Cups.”
Even when the ODIs are played, they are scheduled irregularly, usually only sought out by countries before an upcoming World Cup. The quadrennial showpiece is still cricket’s biggest prize, but teams prefer to play ODIs only as one approaches, ditching the format in other years.
India
Gap: +44 more T20Is
South Africa
Gap: +1 more T20I
England
Gap: +20 more T20Is
Australia
Gap: +24 more T20Is
New Zealand
Gap: +16 more T20Is
Indian Express InfoGenIE
A closer split of the number of ODIs played in the last couple of years offers a clear pattern. 35 out of India’s 82 ODIs in the last five years came in 2023 – a World Cup year. In 2024, that number came down to three.
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Australia showed the same pattern: 22 ODIs in 2023, compared to only 11 in 2024. England and South Africa display even sharper contrasts, with England’s total in 2024 a mere eight ODIs as compared to 24 in 2023. South Africa played 25 ODIs in 2023, but that number came down to nine in 2024. Only New Zealand played more ODIs in 2024 than they did in 2023, with 15 matches as compared to 10 games in the World Cup year.
T20 leagues, which sees the best players assemble for a period of one-to-two months, mushrooming globally has taken up too much space on the calendar too. IPL matches have increased exponentially over the last five years. The Big Bash League continues to grow each year. With every IPL owner having a stake in the SA T20 league, the competition is expected to witness continuous growth in the coming years too.
These trends don’t suggest that ODIs will go extinct, but instead that they may lose relevance. And without deliberate restructuring, they may survive only as periodic, high-profile events rather than as a year-round staple – a format in the shadow of T20’s popularity, relevant only when the World Cup demands it.
