Wasim Akram suggests that 50-over international cricket should be reduced to 40 overs going forward to counter shorter attention spans of the fans watching the game.
Speaking on commentary during the Australia-Pakistan Perth Test, Akram mentioned the touring side’s captaincy change. Babar Azam was replaced as the all-format skipper after the 2023 World Cup, Shan Masood taking over the Test mantle and Shaheen Afridi leading the T20I side. As Pakistan will not play another ODI until November 2024, the PCB have held back on naming the skipper in that format.
Akram highlighted the lack of ODIs Pakistan would play by saying, “That’s how serious we are about one-day cricket in Pakistan”. He went on to express his frustration at the format saying ODI cricket, in its present state, is “just too long”.
“There’ll be another 50-over World Cup? God, do something about ODIs,” said Akram. “It’s just too long. The format has disappeared, especially the bilateral series. It’s a very different format from T20 and Test cricket, it’s kind of in between. You have to be a specialist.
“The only problem is that ODI cricket, for me, is from the 10th to the 40th over, most of the time nothing happens. Teams are going at four-an-over and the bowling side is saying, okay, we will give you four-an-over. The last ten and the first ten overs, the powerplays, are more exciting and that’s where something has to be done, I think.”
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On being asked what changes he would want to bring to ODIs, he said: “I’ll probably go 40 overs instead of 50 because the attention span is gone. It’s disappearing a bit because of the T20 format. Test cricket is the ultimate, no doubt.”
Akram also spoke about Sachin Tendulkar’s repeated suggestions to split an ODI match into four innings of 25 overs each. “Somebody mentioned, the great Sachin as well, to play four innings [of 25 overs each], that means the whole game will go on for probably three days. I did play one game in 2001 in Cardiff of two innings, 25 overs each, it was too long. It was interesting, but it was too long, the changeover and everything.”
Ravi Shastri, the former head coach of the Indian cricket team, echoed Akram’s views: “We had a great World Cup in 50 overs, so it could stay, but the future would be, I reckon, 40 overs.”
