Since the introduction of T20I cricket back in 2006-07, the future of the fifty-over format appears bleak, as the reduction in overs has been in the headlines for quite some time.
Due to the popularity of franchise cricket and fans’ interest, players prefer the shortest format over red-ball and ODI cricket, and several players, such as England’s Ben Stokes, have recently quit the ODI format.
Former Pakistan pacer, Waqar Younis, believes that instead of decreasing the format to 40 overs to speed up the game, it would be better to have two innings of T20 cricket, similar to red-ball cricket.
The former captain was responding to the question asked by the cricket news website, ESPNCricinfo, on its official Twitter page where it wrote, “Should ODI cricket be reduced to 40 overs per side?”
While responding to the question, the right-arm pacer wrote, “Instead of reducing the overs in ODIs to fast track the game we should try 2 innings of T20s on Test match method with 10 minutes break between the innings.”
Instead of reducing the overs in ODI’s to fast track the game we should try 2 innings of T20’s on Test match method with 10 minutes break btw the innings. #FoodForThought https://t.co/hDqKRBR72f
— Waqar Younis (@waqyounis99) October 11, 2022
It is worth noting that Waqar Younis is the third most successful ODI wicket-taker with 416 wickets in 258 innings, trailing only Sri Lankan spinner, Muttiah Muralitharan, and Pakistani pacer, Wasim Akram, who have 534 and 502 wickets, respectively.
