Ben Stokes' ODI retirement has set off an important discourse about the viability of the ODI format. Usman Khwaja, the Australian cricketer is the latest to voice his opinion about the dangling future of the 50-over format of cricket.
Calling ODI, the third-ranked format among all three, Khawaja highlighted how the format is dying a slow death. The 35-year-old Test player who himself hasn't played in the limited overs format for Australia since 2019 feels that ODI will have to bear the brunt of T20I's popularity.
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While for him, Test cricket is the 'pinnacle, T20 is entertainment', ODI, on the contrary, is only enjoyable during the World Cups. Khawaja said, 'Test cricket is the pinnacle, T20 has leagues around the world, great entertainment, everyone loves it, and ODI, as for ODI it is the third-ranked among all of them'
Further, the Aussie also pointed out the physical and mental toll that an all-format player bears. In his understanding, while the shortest and the longest format of the game can be balanced, he isn't very convinced about accommodating the ODIs too.