In a press conference, Wasim Akram, the greatest fast bowler of all time in cricket history, talked about wanting to remove ODIs from the International cricket schedule.
“I think so (on ODI cricket being scrapped). In England, you have full houses. In India, Pakistan especially, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, South Africa, one-day cricket you are not going to fill the stadiums.”
“They are doing it just for the sake of doing it. After the first 10 overs, it’s just ‘OK, just go a run a ball, get a boundary, four fielders in and you get to 200, 220 in 40 overs’ and then have a go in the last 10 overs. Another 100. It’s kind of run-of-the-mill,” said Akram on Vaughany and Tuffers Cricket Club Podcast.
Further talking about Ben Stokes’s ODI retirement, he mentioned:
“Him deciding that he is retiring from one-day cricket is quite sad, but I agree with him. Even as a commentator one-day cricket is just a drag now, especially after T20. I can imagine as a player. 50 overs, 50 overs, then you have to pre-game, post-game, the lunch game.”
“T20 is kind of easier, four hours the game is over. In the leagues all around the world, there is a lot more money — I suppose this is part and parcel of modern cricket. T20 or Test cricket. One-day cricket is kind of dying.”
“It is quite tiring for a player to play one-day cricket. After T20, one-day cricket seems it is going on for days. So players are focusing on the shorter format. And longer format obviously (with) Test cricket.”
Wasim Akram has played a total of 356 matches in One Day Internationals and has taken 502 wickets, but still he believes that Test cricket is much better than ODIs as it gives players a chance to prove their potential and it is a format where legends of the game are made.
“There’s a battle within the battle in Test cricket. I always preferred Test matches. One-day used to be fun but Test matches were where you were recognised as a player where people still pick you for the world XIs.”
“OK money matters — I understand where they are coming from — but they should also remember (Test cricket) if they want to be recognised as one of the greats of the game.”
