 New Delhi: Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has questioned the logic behind the Indian cricket team's ongoing four-ODI series in the Caribbean and said with an already crammed international schedule in place, such tours only tended to exhaust players.
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India flew straight to the West Indies after being dumped out of the Super-Eight stage of the Twenty20 World Cup in England.
Defending champion India's early exit from the World Cup also raised serious questions about the fitness of players, who seemed to be struggling with their form and consistency, a trend that seems to have continued in the current series against the West Indies which is levelled at 1-1 at this stage.
"I think it's a slightly ridiculous idea that you travel all the way to the West Indies and just play four one-day internationals, that too immediately after the World T20. I think it must have been a logistical compromise, but let us hope we do not have such kind of tours," Manjrekar said.
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The cricketer-turned-commentator also feels a series consisting of an even number of matches is devoid of any logic as they often yield no result and asked the International Cricket Council to step in immediately to regulate such practices.
"What happens if it is a two-all scoreline? I also don't see the logic of four ODIs. It should either be five, or three. This is something that ICC should stipulate as early as possible. I don't see a reason why administrators plan a four-match series. The ICC needs to wake up to the problem," he said.
Asked about the skyrocketing popularity of Twenty20 cricket, Manjrekar said that he felt the fate of ODIs in near future will depend on how viewer adjust to the 50-over format after experiencing the slam-bang version.
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"I am very interested in seeing how people react to the 50-over game. We always talk about how the players adjust to the shift in format. I think this is going to be a test of the viewers' ability to adjust," Manjrekar told Mobile ESPN.
"The reaction of the viewer is critical to the future of 50-50 contests. It thus makes sense to plan events properly," he added.
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