Can the 2023 Cricket World Cup revive ODI cricket?

The 2023 Cricket World Cup is 8 months away and it will be hosted by 2-time champions India. This edition World Cup is in a year with many important and prestigious cricket events, such as the Ashes, World Test Championship final, Border Gavaskar Trophy, IPL 2023, and the Asia Cup. 

Will the most prestigious event in cricket history stand out against all the cricket events lined up this year and revive ODI cricket or will it just be another event in the cricket calendar? 

The only hope for the resurgence of ODI cricket is the 2023 Cricket World Cup. If it lives up to the success of the 2022 T20 World Cup, there is a high possibility that the ODI format sparks interest among the fans and it is given importance by the cricketing boards.

In this post, we will dig deep into this discussion. 

First, we look at the rise of T20 cricket. 

T20 Format Popularity 

Ever since the rise of the introduction of various franchise leagues such as the Hundred, Cricket South Africa T20 League, International T20 League, and the addition of two new teams in the IPL, T20 cricket seems to be the format given the most important as it seems to be generating the most revenue and it brings in the most viewership. 

Viacom 18, Disney Star, Viacom 18, and Times Internet have bought the broadcasting rights for the IPL for a whopping ₹48,390 crore (US$6.2 billion). 

These ridiculous numbers make the boards such as the ICC and the BCCI give more importance to the T20 leagues to bring in more revenue and increase viewership.

The resurgence of Test Cricket

Test cricket retained its popularity after the introduction of the World Test Championship in 2019. This gave every test series meaning and weightage as teams would gain points for every match and series won. The top 2 teams would meet at the final. 

This concept made teams play for the win and not play for the draw, which saw some blockbuster matches take place and exciting moments happen, which brought back the interest of Test Cricket among fans. 

Some noteworthy moments in the 2 editions of the World Test Championship are Ben Stokes' Headingly miracle, India breaching the Gabba, India's triumphant win at lords and the introduction of Bazball. 

Viewership and interest in the longest format of the game came back and it is safe to say that the legacy of test cricket will live on for years to come.

ODI Format - Less Popular 

This leaves us to ODI cricket, which has been kept to the side as T20 and Test Cricket have been the main focus as of late. 

ODI cricket has not been the most interesting format after the epic final between England and New Zealand at the 2019 Cricket World Cup final. 

To make ODI cricket interesting, the ICC introduced the Cricket Super League, where the top 8 teams would directly qualify for the 2023 Cricket World Cup, while the remaining teams will play the qualifiers with the associate nations to earn a spot in the Cricket World Cup.

However, this has not had the same impact as the World Test Championship as the interest and viewership of ODI's have not increased drastically. 

Teams like Sri Lanka, the West Indies, and even South Africa have not yet directly qualified for the World Cup and they might have to play the qualifiers to earn a qualification. 

South Africa had even abandoned their 3-match ODI series with Australia to introduce the CSA T20 League. 

A board taking the decision to sacrifice direct qualification for the World Cup for a T20 franchise speaks volumes to how much importance ODI cricket has been given lately.

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