Despite record crowds, questions arise about future of 50-over cricket

World Cup-winning skipper Pat Cummins, by his own admission, has fallen in love with 50-over cricket all over again, but the jury remains out on the future of the ODI format, whose relevance in modern-day cricket has been debated for some time now.
India is the heartbeat of world cricket, and near-packed stadiums for the majority of World Cup games over the course of the 45-day-long event were expected at the spiritual home of the game. It was not a surprise that India has delivered the most-attended ODI World Cup ever.
More than a record 1.25 million people thronged the stadiums, but the same buzz and fanfare will most likely be missing when there is a bilateral series happening anywhere in the world, including India.
The players and the purists love Test cricket, while T20 is the format that enjoys unmatched popularity and is being used as a tool to spread the game globally.
Attention spans are shorter than ever in the digital age, and not all have the time and zeal to spend eight hours for an ODI game.
The ICC event in India has shown that the format has plenty of takers if it is a world event, but bilateral ODIs don’t inspire the same confidence going ahead.
That begs the question: Should ODIs only be played in a World Cup year? If not, then should the format be tweaked on the advice of legends like Wasim Akram and Sachin Tendulkar.
The format is not high on priority for most teams, with India featuring only in six ODIs next year, and Pakistan don’t have any matches scheduled till November 2024, even though they host the Champions Trophy the following year.
During the World Cup, Akram opined that the format should be reduced to 40 overs a side, while Tendulkar wants to break the ODIs into four innings of 25 overs each to break the’monotony.