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Get rid of second new ball in ODIs – Sachin Tendulkar

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Last Updated on 2 years by Charbel Coorey

Cricket News: Get rid of second new ball in ODIs – Sachin Tendulkar | Sachin Tendulkar provides his thoughts on the future of ODI cricket

Cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar has reiterated his desire to see One Day International (ODI) cricket move back to just the one ball. He believes that two balls takes away reverse swing; an element that made ODI cricket an attractive product particularly in the 1990s and 2000s.

Ahead of his 50th birthday, Tendulkar spoke to journalists about why ODIs are skewed too heavily towards batting teams, with a couple of important solutions.

“I feel all three formats are completely different. Somewhere I do feel one-day format, people need to have a look at it closely,” Tendulkar said. “I feel there is an imbalance between the bat and the ball. It is too much in favour of the batters at this point.”

“With two new balls, even in the 25th over, the ball is literally 12 or 13 overs old. There is no such thing as reverse swing or the discolouration of the ball, or the ball becoming soft. These factors really put a lot of pressure on the bowling side. There were challenges [for batters] where one did not pick the ball because of the discolouration. That was an advantage for a bowler.

“And with field restrictions, we need to balance that out. Give some advantage to the bowlers as well. I find that element missing in ODI cricket right now.”

This is not the first time Tendulkar has provided his thoughts on the issue. In the England-Australia ODI series in 2018, Tendulkar tweeted that bowling teams have next to no chance in the death overs.

“Having 2 new balls in one day cricket is a perfect recipe for disaster as each ball is not given the time to get old enough to reverse. We haven’t seen reverse swing, an integral part of the death overs, for a long time,” he tweeted.

“There is no such thing as reverse swing or the discolouration of the ball, or the ball becoming soft. These factors really put a lot of pressure on the bowling side.”

Sachin Tendulkar on the playing conditions in ODIs.

Tendulkar also touched on the fielding restrictions. He believes that with only four fielders allowed outside the ring between overs 11 and 40, spinners are forced to bowl defensively instead of looking for wickets.

“If an offspinner is bowling, he is forced to bowl a middle-stump line,” Tendulkar said. “Because you either have to have your deep point in the ring or you need to bring in the long-off because on the on side, you have three fielders in the deep and here you can have only one fielder in the deep.”

“So they cannot deceive a batter by getting him to play a cover drive. The overall opinion is that ‘we have to kind of settle for a defensive line’. I would say that some adjustments need to be made.”

Fans share similar views to Sachin Tendulkar regarding ODIs

CricBlog recently ran a survey regarding the future of cricket. 33.6% of the 1,000+ respondents said that ODIs will not be around by 2037. Also, 52.4% of the respondents picked ODIs as the format to drop to reduce scheduling pressures.

With regards to boosting the format, 35% said that there should be a move back to one ball. Also, nearly 40% said more sporting pitches are crucial, while 58.1% believe that fewer T20 Internationals can make fans look forward to ODIs more.

Cricket News: Get rid of second new ball in ODIs - Sachin Tendulkar | Sachin Tendulkar provides his thoughts on the future of ODI cricket
Charbel Coorey
Charbel Cooreyhttps://cricblog.net
Charbel is the owner & founder of cricblog.net, based in Sydney, Australia. He started the website to fulfill his love for the game of cricket. Charbel has been featured on other publications including OP India, Times of India, and The Roar, among others. He is also a keen fantasy sports player. Charbel has also had the privilege of interviewing cricketers on the CricBlog TV YouTube channel, including James Neesham, Rassie van der Dussen, Andrew Tye, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat and Saurabh Netravalkar: https://www.youtube.com/@cricblogtv For any story tips or questions, you can contact Charbel at charbelcoorey@cricblog.net.

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