Half-empty stadiums in Pakistan during the Champions Trophy raised a few pertinent questions over the relevance of ODI cricket still.. and now Moeen Ali has spoken about the same. In a chat with Talksport Cricket, the all-rounder conceded that ODIs was the “worst format to play”, saying the format is obsolete outside the ICC events like the World Cups and Champions Trophy.
Scanty Crowd in Champions Trophy
“The format has almost completely died out, apart from World Cups and Champions Trophy. It is the worst format to play and I think there are many reasons for that,” Moeen told Talksport Cricket.
“I think the rules are terrible. To have that extra fielder in after [the first powerplay], I think it’s a horrendous rule for taking wickets, building any sort of pressure. Guys are averaging 60, 70 in ODI cricket now because of that.
ODI Format Dead Already
“When you’re bowling at somebody and you put a little bit of pressure, he just reverse-sweeps and it’s not even a single, it’s a four. It’s just there’s always that option available for the batters [to score].” Moeen Ali spoke about another such terrible rule — the two new balls usage, that takes reverse swing out of the equation.
Lop-sided Rules
“On top of all this, you have two new balls, you lose the reverse swing, you lose the art of trying to hit a softer ball. Everything’s always in the middle and crisp and it’s flying off your bat and stuff. I think for those reasons, the cricket’s just died. 50-over cricket has died,” Moeen continued.
“I think franchise cricket is sadly eating it all up and the problem is the money that’s out there and the money that’s being thrown out there. It’s so much that people just can’t turn it down. It’s very difficult. There are probably guys who are probably going to retire in the next couple of years from international cricket earlier to play franchise cricket,” Moeen added.
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