Ravichandran Ashwin urges the ICC to rethink cricket scheduling, calling modern ODIs redundant and criticizing the rise of too many World Cups.
Ravichandran Ashwin has asked the International Cricket Council (ICC) to rethink its tournament schedule. He pointed out that nearly every year now features a major event, like a World Cup or a Champions Trophy, which are organized mainly to generate revenue.
In 2025, men played the Champions Trophy while women had the ODI World Cup. In 2026, both the Men’s and Women’s T20 World Cups are scheduled.
“The ODI format has become redundant and to top it, ICC needs to see how they are conducting these World Cups. Every year, there is an ICC tournament for revenue generation pattern, but look at how FIFA is doing it. There are leagues (EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga) happening and they do their World Cup once in every four years. The World Cup has value as it’s a marquee tournament. (But in cricket) too many bilaterals, too many formats, too many World Cups, so it’s little bit of an overkill,” Ashwin explained his concerns on his YouTube channel, ‘Ash Ki Baat’:
Ashwin suggests fewer ODIs
Ashwin added that reducing ODI events could make the format more meaningful. While some, like Sachin Tendulkar, have suggested changes such as split-innings games, Ashwin believes a simpler solution could work:
“If you really want to make ODI cricket relevant, then just play these (T20s) leagues and play ODI World Cup once in four years. So when people turn up for events, there will be sense of expectation. (Otherwise) I feel it (ODI cricket) is going towards slow death.”
ODIs may struggle post-Kohli and Rohit
Ashwin also said that ODI cricket might face challenges after stars like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma retire. He praised the old ODI style that allowed players like Mahendra Singh Dhoni to control the innings strategically:
“…Dhoni (would) take singles for 10-15 overs before he went berserk at the end. You don’t have players like that (Dhoni) anymore. There isn’t any requirement to play like that, as you are playing with two new balls and five fielders inside circle,”
He added that modern ODIs often either become a “BashaThon” or a collapse if the wicket is even slightly tricky.
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