Test cricket is the best form of cricket in that it is actually cricket. I consider ODIs and T20 as games which are similar to cricket – but not cricket – in the sense that equipment used and team composition is the same as in cricket.
I do not even think that I should use the term Test cricket. To me, Test cricket means cricket.
But I am not the only one to feel this way. ODIs are not loved so much anymore, mainly because there is no even contest between bat and ball.
However, it is not as if batsmen have become better all of a sudden. Various rule changes have meant to ensure that batsmen have it a lot easier – unlike that in earlier days.
The 15 over mandatory restrictions have now been changed to 20 overs of powerplay and the last five overs are always the hitting overs. So effectively, 25 overs are a treat for the batsmen. Various changes in the field restrictions have also made it easier.
Even in non-powerplay overs, there are increasing fielding restrictions which obviously has made run scoring very easy.
Also the two new balls rule makes it tough to have any reverse swing in the death overs, which is probably the only weapon with the bowlers these days. In addition to this, pitches all over the world are becoming flatter every day.
These pitches are flatter than the flattest ones of an earlier time. Even traditionally fast pitches are often flat, especially in the one-day version.
One more reason is the size of the ground. Most of the grounds are so small that if the mid-on or mid-off is pushed a little back, you end up straight at long-on or long-off respectively. There is no place for a deep mid-on at all. This is because boundaries are brought in to increase the seat capacity.
Also there is a thought that most people love to watch big hitting rather than a good and even contest between bat and ball. Cricket has been made a business. And if business demands that big hitting needs to be there as it draws a great crowd, that is how it is worked out.
Quality of cricket suffers a lot. A score of 300 is not even par on the flat subcontinental tracks.
In the past, even in ODIs, you could get to see batsmen caught in the slips. This a rarity these days. Slips are there for five to six overs at the most. A bowler deceiving a batsman and inducing an edge to the slips is a sight which is a rare phenomenon.
Teams should start having 11 batsmen now, because even frontline bowlers are carted like part timers. Does that mean that so many batsmen suddenly have become better? Surely not.
It would be so foolish even to think like that.
So the only thing in our hands is to stop buying tickets for such fracas. Then the authorities will learn that batting is not why people watch ODIs. Only then, can we hope to regain the lost joy of ODIs.
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