ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: Indian head coach Rahul Dravid backs for more ODI cricket

Rahul Dravid has represented India in 344 ODI matches.

In the opening game of 13th edition men's ICC Cricket World Cup in Ahmedabad, there were many empty seats, which got people talking about the future of the 50-overs cricket format. While it might be too soon to say that the format is in trouble, Indian team head coach, Rahul Dravid, admitted that they won't play as many 50-overs games as they used to.

The numbers tell a clear story. Since 2019 World Cup, cricket teams have played just 250 one-day internationals (ODIs) before England-New Zealand match on Thursday. During the previous World Cup cycle from 2015 to 2019, they played a much larger number, which was 429 ODIs. In fact, in the recent four-years period, there were a total of 367 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) played, which was more than the number of ODIs for the first time. This is a significant sign that times are changing in the world of cricket.

India's statistics also follow this pattern. They played a total of 66 ODIs leading up to the prestigious event on their home turf, but even that fell short by 20 games compared to the number they played between the World Cups held in Australia and England. It's worth noting that among these 66 games, there were instances when India sent a second squad or played with a less experienced team due to their commitments in other formats, both of which had two world events in the meantime.

"I mean, we haven't played a lot of 50-over cricket over the last couple of years; that's one of the things that I have kind of noticed over the couple of years that I have been the coach of the team. Because there were two T20 World Cups that happened and there is always the World Test Championship at the back of every team that you are doing, it's a cycle that goes on," Dravid said.

"Sometimes, this format over the last couple of years, maybe it's because of COVID, I can't exactly say, but it's just felt like we haven't played a lot of ODI cricket, and even when we played it, except over the last few months, we are probably prioritising other things and having to protect and manage our players maybe in this format.

"Going forward, I think it's still an important format; it's a fantastic format to play. Obviously, how much of it is played will be decided by a variety of factors. Obviously, with more and more T20 cricket being added to the calendar, it will be difficult to potentially have the same number of one-day games that you are probably used to seeing between the 2015 and 2019 calendars. I don't think we will ever go back to those days, but I sincerely hope that we still keep valuing and playing this format." he added

'I want to see this format thrive,' says Rahul Dravid

Dravid spoke about two specific things to show how ODI cricket is different from other types of cricket. He mentioned Mohammed Siraj's excellent performance in the Asia Cup finals and the team-work between Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra in Ahmedabad. These examples were used to understand the special details and skills involved in ODI cricket.

"I mean, that was really top-class bowling of six [7] overs. In a T20 game, you never see that; you would have bowled one or two overs or maybe three overs on a good day.

"But here you got to see a full gamut of his skills and his abilities, which I think one-day cricket allows you to do; it allows you to see great spells; it still allows you to see good innings like that we saw from both those left-handers [Conway and Ravindra]; it allows you to see a lot of good spin, rotation of strike, and a lot of creativity. As a coach and as someone who loves the game of cricket, I want to see this format thrive and do well." said Indian team head coach

Rahul Dravid speaks about World Cup's varied venues and pitch challenges

The matches in this year's World Cup in India have the potential to highlight Dravid's belief in the importance of a wide range of skills, as the various venues across the country may present different challenges. Dravid mentioned that it's challenging to predict a specific number of challenges, and what will be more critical is the ability to adjust to different conditions rather than solely trying to understand the pitches themselves.

"That's going to be the beauty of this World Cup. There are so many venues where these matches are going to be played. There are so many different wickets on those venues. To be honest, in some of the squares, you have red and black soil; you have a mix of red and black. Each one is going to be unique. I don't think you can go and say that this is going to be a safe total; that's not going to be a safe total. You've got to just adapt and react based on those conditions.

"Ground sizes will be different. We'll probably play on relatively bigger ground here in Chennai compared to say when we go to Bangalore or when we go to Delhi. Each venue will be different; we'll just have to assess it and see what it's like.

"I don't think that this World Cup is going to be decided by whether you read the pitch correctly; it's going to be decided by the way you play on those pitches and the variety of conditions that you are going to get. I think adaptability is going to be a huge challenge in this World Cup, as will how teams adapt to the various venues, conditions, pitches, and bowling that they will have to face. And I think [that] will probably decide how successful teams are."