Got to keep making ODIs interesting for survival of format, opines Glenn McGrath

The future of ODI cricket has been a hot topic among cricket experts recently. Ben Stokes retired from the format due to workload management. His decision has raised question marks over the sustenance of ODIs. Test cricket has once again surged in popularity due to the start of the World Test Championship. T20s have been a popular format since its start and so ODIs are being neglected between these two formats. 

Former Australian cricketer Glenn McGrath has opined that ODIs should be made interesting so that the format can survive. 

"I am very much a traditionalist. I liked Tests, I liked my ODIs. Test cricket is still the ultimate to me. I hope that it is protected and still held in high regard,' McGrath told reporters during an interaction.

"As for the ODIs, it is still exciting as long as they are scoring runs. Interesting to see the future (of ODIs) and see where it goes. They have got to keep making it (ODIs) exciting. They have got a few challenges.”

There are already some players like Quinton de Kock or Ben Stokes who prefer a specific format over others and the list of such players in the future can multiply. McGrath while pondering upon the possibility said that it wouldn’t be surprising if more and more youngsters start.

"I would like to think so. See teams are now having separate T20 and ODI teams...they are nearly getting more specific. Yeah, the money is in T20 cricket isn't it? To be honest, a lot of players, a lot of youngsters coming up will look to play T20s,” he explained.