India’s veteran off-spinner R Ashwin is also worried about surviving the ODIs but plans to make the 50-over format competitive.
Speaking on the Vaughan and Tuffers Cricket Club podcast, Ashwin said the idea was to bring back one ball in each ODI innings.
Since 2011, two white balls have been used in the ODI format, one new ball each at the start of the two innings.
Ashwin said a return to the single-ball policy would help the spinners and thus reverse the swing, which would restore the instability and flow of the format.
Ashwin said, “I am a complete cricket badger, crazy and at times I turn off the TV while watching ODIs.”
“I think it’s clearly too scary for that form of the game. Those ups and downs, when they disappear, they are no longer cricket, they are just an extension of T20.
“I think every inning is a ball that will work and even spinners will come into play. You will have a lot of spin bowlers in the last half of the game.
They’re bowling now, but you might see the pitch slow down a bit or anything and the reverse swing could get back into the game which I think is very important for the game.
“I think the beauty of ODI cricket, ODI cricket – sorry, that is – there are a lot of ups and downs left in the game. One just has to spend his time, the game goes deep and the ball swings reverse.
“At one point, he wants to score 60 off 60 balls, he has seven wickets in hand and you are leading the bowling team to victory. Not now: he is going to be a canter now,” Ashwin said on the show.
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