Gupta advocated for a growth-first mindset, citing that tradition should not override economic reality.
ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta addressed the future of One Day Internationals (ODIs), emphasizing that the era of "randomly scheduled" bilateral cricket series must end to protect the sport's long-term sustainability.
Gupta’s comments came a month after the ICC introduced a new 2027 World Cup format featuring a preliminary "Super Series" round.
Cricket Scotland and Royal Dutch Cricket Association (KNCB) recently issued a joint statement, calling the World Cup format changes "disappointing and disrespectful".
The controversial Super Series forces the 12th, 13th, and 14th ranked teams into a preliminary tri-series where only one team advances, which emerging boards view as a severe barrier to global growth.
“The era of randomly scheduled bilateral series has to come to an end, because countries will not be able to sustain cricket without context, culture, competition and competitiveness, which require significant investment of resources, both financial and non-financial,” Gupta told PTI.
“It’s important to stay focused on the four levers which drive attention and affiliation - context, culture, competition and competitiveness - and ODIs can continue not just to survive, but thrive.
“There is a place for the format in the product portfolio, which is inextricably linked to men’s and women’s ICC Cricket World Cups. We need to look at what we want the format to stand for and how we want it to evolve, including the expanse of participation,” he added.
Gupta argued that Test cricket must balance its heritage with commercial viability and optimal scheduling. He advocated for a growth-first mindset across all formats, citing that tradition should not override economic reality.
“Our ambition has to be growth; our ambition should never be to maintain the status quo,” Gupta said. “Because in this world, where population is growing, attention is getting disaggregated and affiliation is hard to sustain, if you’re not growing, you’re dying.”
“Every time there is conversation around the commercials of Test cricket, the passion, pride and legacy tend to override the conversation around the economics,” he stated. “I don’t think the answer is necessarily binary, and I don’t think it’s a question solely for Test cricket to answer but one which must be asked of all our products across formats and events.
“Our primary tool of global growth is T20 cricket, but that does not mean we don’t focus on growing the value or engagement around ODIs or Test cricket. The World Test Championship Final is now an event of significance and one that didn’t even exist seven years ago,” he remarked.
Sanjog Gupta stressed the need to revamp Test cricket scheduling outside the "Big Three" nations (India, England, and Australia) to make the format more appealing to the fans.
“Test matches in certain countries are of immense fan value, but can we focus more on providing Members with opportunities to build occasions of appointment and significance in Test cricket?
“That has to be by virtue of the World Test Championship having more meaning and a continuing narrative, by virtue of Test cricket being scheduled optimally, by virtue of Tests receiving adequate positioning and marketing support, by virtue of the competitive standards of the two teams and playing conditions being offered, and fans being promised cricket which is going to be compelling,” he said.