England batter Joe Root admitted that he is unsure about how long one-day cricket will survive, saying the format’s future will depend on what the next generation of cricket players and fans want.
The prevailing perception that ODIs are undergoing a gradual and painful decline has not been disproven during the initial two and a half weeks of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup in India as there is a scarcity of closely contested matches and stadium attendance has been lacklustre for matches that don't involve the host team.
“There’s talk of whether this format is relevant any more anyway, in international cricket. Whether that gets changed, I don’t know. Who knows how things move in the future? It’s got a huge amount of history and it brings a lot to cricket. It will always hold a very special part of my heart for what it’s given me throughout my career. I think that’s a question that should be posed to the next generation of players, and to everyone watching the game, really," Root was quoted by the Telegraph.
“It shouldn’t be down to, ‘is it bringing the most money for the sport?’ It should be down to what people want to watch, and what’s going to engage the next generation of players. Because in the long term, I think that’s going to be most beneficial for cricket all-round," he added.
Root emphasized that he had no intention of offering excuses for England's woeful beginning to their title defence, which has seen them lose three of their first four matches, while highlighting the lack of ODIs that England have played in recent years.
Since their triumph in the 2019 World Cup, England's schedule has been dominated by Test cricket: they have played 56 Tests in that period, with Australia and India joint-second on 39.In the four years between the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, England played 88 ODIs while the defending champions played just 42 ODIs in the build-up to the 2023 World Cup.
“When you’re not playing the format, it’s hard to know who the best players are. It would have been nice to have a proper run in, naturally - and not just a rushed block of eight-10 games or whatever. It would have been nice to do it over a six-month period where you slowly work things through as a group," Root said."
Reeling from three defeats from their first four games, England know they need a huge turnaround if they are to make it to the semifinals, with the defending champions sat at the bottom of the table following Afghanistan’s shock win over Pakistan on Monday.
The equation for England is simple. They must win at least four and possibly all five of their remaining matches if they are to reach the knockout stages.