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Australian Test veteran Usman Khawaja has cast doubt on the future of ODI cricket, saying that the 50-over format is dying a slow death.
England all-rounder Ben Stokes' retirement from ODIs at the age of 31 has reignited the debate on the future of the format. Stokes stressed the demands of international cricket on players, saying authorities can't treat players like 'cars'.
Throwing light on the debate, Khawaja stated that something has to give in to the packed international calendar and it has to be the ODIs.
ESPNCricinfo quoted the left-handed batter saying:
"My own personal opinion - I know a few of the guys are very similar - you've got Test cricket, which is the pinnacle, you've got T20 cricket, which obviously has leagues around the world, great entertainment, everyone loves it, and then there's one-day cricket."
He added:
"I feel like that's probably the third-ranked out of all of them. I think personally one-day cricket is dying a slow death...there's still the World Cup, which I think is really fun and it's enjoyable to watch, but other than that, even myself personally, I'm probably not into one-day cricket as much either."
The Queenslander last played a limited-overs game for Australia way back in 2019. It was against South Africa during the ICC ODI World Cup at Old Trafford in Manchester.
"Think Test cricket still has a very strong presence" - Usman Khawaja
Khawaja, however, is confident about the bright future of the red-ball format and feels there is no threat to the traditional format of the game. He also believes that Tests and T20s can co-exist.
The southpaw concluded:
"The majority of people I talk to still love Test cricket," he said. "It's my favourite format. Think Test cricket still has a very strong presence so don't really see that going anywhere. Think both [Tests and T20] can be quite easily balanced, but then you ask yourself the question does one-day cricket give."
The southpaw will next be seen in action when Australia host South Africa in December as both teams push their case for a berth in the ICC World Test Championship final.
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