AB De Villiers’s Remarks On ODI’s Future Offer Food For Thought

The debate continues about the future of limited cricket (50-over format). The ICC has advertised the viewership numbers of the recent World Cup in India, surpassing the previous tournaments in England, Australia and New Zealand. There was a strong appetite to see the one-day variety, but one of the modern batsmen — a master of all he purveyed – AB de Villiers feels that the first innings played mostly in daylight and the second innings under the lights are two entirely different games, akin to chalk and cheese. The South African who lit the flame of electrifying batting across all formats and has played a massive role in the success of the IPL believes that the future of ODI cricket could be in the form of two Twenty20 format segments, with the team batting first for 20 overs, batting in the fourth and last set of 20 overs. All this means the ODI being reduced to 40 overs. A crowd puller, de Villiers believes that the toss should not become the game-changing factor. He has expressed his forthright views to the latest WISDEN Cricket monthly for a serious conversation among the cricket fraternity and the powers that be to take note of. The BCCI secretary Jay Shah has gone on record saying that the future of ODI cricket is secured after the response for the greatest show on earth in India.