Centurion: Champions Trophy will play a crucial role in determining if ODI cricket sustains itself in the days to come, so feel Kumar Sangakkara and Graeme Smith, the two captains who will play the opening encounter of the tournament.
Both, Sangakkara and Smith, feel that the tournament will surely revive the glory of ODI cricket, which, in the past few months, has been through a lot of criticism for being too lengthy and having too many weak teams on the scene.
The debate whether one-dayers would survive even till the 2011 World Cup had taken a toll over the credibility of the format, especially in the wake of T20 getting immense popularity in such a short a period of time.
However, both the skippers seem positive about ODIs sustaining the pressure, all thanks to the Champions Trophy.
“The ICC put a lot of effort into this tournament,” Smith said. “Ultimately it will be the cricket, how it is played, that will define whether this is a success or not. The good point is that it is short, to the point and can capture the imagination of fans around the world.”
“That’s the challenge ODIs have, with all the talk about moving domestic formats to 40 overs and all. This is a crucial period for the ODI game and how this competition is a success on the field is more important than anything else,” he added.
The Champions Trophy is the first 50-over major tournament in over two years and the ICC believes that it would be a huge success, given the fact that it is short with just eight teams participating in 15 matches at two venues.
“It’s an important step,” said Sangakkara. “In the 2007 World Cup the cricket was great, but lots of people thought it was way too long, had too many teams and days between games.”
“The true test of ODI is in big tournaments like this, the appeal to fans and players and how much money TV networks make from it. South Africa is a wonderful place to play and I think it will be a good tournament,” he added.
Sangakkara further said that the need of the hour is to create just the right king of balance between all the three forms of the game, something which ICC should work upon immediately while planning its Future Tour Programs (FTP).
“Everything should exist in harmony and balance,” he said. “We’ve got to find a solution, players, administrators and the public, where attention and import should be given to each format. Cricket started with Tests so we’ve got to maintain and protect its primacy but also ensure that the cash flows in and the fans have something to look at and enjoy.”
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