Harish Kotian/The Rediff
Pics: Rons Bantwal
for Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai
Mumbai, Jun 6: Former India captain Rahul Dravid is of the view that the number one-day internationals will be considerably reduced in years to come to accommodate the ever-increasing popularity of Twenty20 cricket.
"And if Twenty20 cricket, as it goes on, becomes more popular, then you are talking about windows and Twenty20 World Cup. So, obviously, something has got to give, probably the 50-overs game. Maybe, the number of 50 overs game might reduce over a period of time to accommodate Twenty20 cricket. You might see that start to happen.
"The number of off-shore events that you had earlier in 50-overs cricket might be reduced to accommodate a few more Twenty20 tournaments or Twenty20 World Cup every two years, or the IPL every year or some other tournament," Dravid said, in Mumbai on Thursday, at the launch of the Castrol Asian Cricket Awards.
The awards honour top cricketers from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh on a biennial basis across the three major formats -- Test cricket, one-dayers and Twenty20 internationals. They will be held in Karachi on June 27 during the Asia Cup tournament.
Dravid though still maintains that despite its success, Twenty20 will not impact Test cricket. Young and up-and-coming cricketers, he feels, will have to be prepared to adapt to all three formats to have a successful career in modern day cricket.
"I am not saying that Test cricket is not the future of cricket. I am fully confident that Test cricket will be around in the next 10 years; do not worry about. What I said is that there is another new format of the game that will be an important part of our life for the next 10 years as well. So, it is a skill that you will need to learn and need to adapt to," he said.
He believes the emergence of Twenty20 cricket will make it hard for youngsters to hone their skills in one particular format.
"I played through a great era in Indian cricket, I had a great time. To be honest, I didn't have a choice to make when I was 21; I knew the next 10 years is going to be about Test cricket and that is what I had to focus on. If I was 21 now and if there is the IPL, I would wonder what to focus on," said the right-hander, who has played 122 Tests and 333 one-dayers for India
Pakistan pace bowling legend Wasim Akram, however, refused to give too much importance to Twenty20 cricket. He believes Test cricket is the true test of a cricketer's ability, while Twenty20 is just entertainment for the masses.
"In Twenty20, even an average cricketer can look good, because there is no technique involved. The batsmen just go out and try to hit every ball. The same goes for the bowlers. You learn to bowl the slower balls, bowl a couple of length balls with the new ball, and a yorker or slow balls. A player's real skills can only be known in five-day matches," Akram said.
He felt the advent of Twenty20 cricket has signalled the death knell for bowlers.
"I think in Twenty20 cricket the bowlers are paid to get hammered. The youngsters should realise that IPL is just entertainment. Everybody is enjoying it and having fun, but it is important to concentrate on the longer version of the game because that is where your skill lies," said Akram, who boasts of a combined tally of 916 wickets in international cricket.
Sri Lanka's dashing all-rounder Sanath Jayasuriya, however, had nothing to complain about Twenty20, after his exploits in the just-concluded Indian Premier League.
"The IPL was a good concept. It was good play with players from around the world playing in one team," the left-hander said.