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| September 26, 2003 | Friday | Rajab 28, 1424 |
Greats urge reduction of ODIs
NEW DELHI, Sept 25: Sunil Gavaskar has urged the International Cricket Council (ICC) and national boards to try harder to reduce the number of One-day Internationals being played by the top teams.
“It is not the strain of playing, it is more the travelling involved,” the former India captain, who heads the world governing body’s committee on playing, said on Thursday.
“In tests, you are in the same place for seven days and are kind of settled,” said Gavaskar, the most successful century-making batsman in Test history with 34 from 125 matches.
Pakistan and South Africa with 38 games apiece played the most number of one-dayers in 2002, followed by India (35), Sri Lanka (32), New Zealand (31) and Australia (29).
Gavaskar said he thought no team should play more than 30 One-day Internationals annually. The issue had been raised by captains at their meeting with the ICC, he said.
“The ICC and the boards probably do not have the same courage of conviction,” he added.
Gavaskar was talking to reporters after participating in a new television show along with former England opener Geoffrey Boycott and India captain Saurav Ganguly.
Boycott said too many one-dayers were eroding interest in that form of the game.
“We are going to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs,” he said. “For the administration, it is an easy and cheap way of running the game.”
Gavaskar’s committee rule on playing conditions for international matches but it is the national boards which decide how many one-dayers their sides should play.—Reuters
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