The upcoming ICC Champions Trophy event which will be played in Pakistan in 2025, for the first time since 2017, might be converted from ODI format into T20, as reportedly the official broadcasters have asked the ICC to make the change for more viewership.
The Champions Trophy will be played in 2025 and 2029, with the T20 World Cup scheduled for 2024, 2026, 2028 and 2030. The 50-over ICC World Cup is set to be played in 2027 in South Africa and 2031 in India and Bangladesh.
The top 7 teams plus hosts Pakistan will play in the ICC event in 2025 and while 6 teams- India, Pakistan, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Afghanistan have qualified, England and Sri Lanka are still battling it out for the remaining one spot.
The Guardian newspaper has reported that Disney Star, the television rights holders for global events in India, has designs on the eight-team tournament being a T20 event, not ODI cricket.
Disney Star has bagged the broadcast rights for all ICC events in a four-year deal running from 2024 to 2027 for the Indian market, reportedly for USD 3 billion. Between 2024 and 2027, the ICC men’s calendar will have two T20 World Cups, two World Test Championship finals, a Champions Trophy, and a 50-over World Cup.
The women’s events include two T20 World Cups, a 50-over World Cup, and a T20 Champions Trophy. Moving on to the U-19 events, the roster includes two men’s World Cups and a couple of women’s T20 World Cups.
The report raised several questions as to how can a 50-over tournament be a qualifying event for a T20 tournament. And if ICC does turn the Champions Trophy into a T20 format, how will ODIs, which a struggling as it is, survive going forward with ICC wanting the bilateral ODI series to be scrapped?
The Guardian quotes a broadcaster source as saying that this move will “kill off” the one-day format. Logic would suggest the ICC is too far down the line to make the switch for 2025 and a source at the global governing body has said “nothing formal” has been put to its board.
Afghanistan, who have qualified for the Champions Trophy for the first time, will like the ODI format to thrive. Their captain Hashmatullah Shahidi put the onus on ICC to give them more ODIs and said he is hopeful that the ODI format will survive.
He was asked ahead of their game against South Africa in Ahmedabad: ‘You’ve gotten really good now in 50-over cricket. But when we look at the next cycle, the number of 50-over games is starting to reduce. So how does a team like Afghanistan continue to improve?’
To this the skipper said: “There will be 50-over cricket, I’m expecting that. I hope that ICC also makes a good call on it because 50-over cricket is also important. Right now, there are too many leagues and too much T20 cricket. I think with that, 50-over and Test cricket is more important. So, if we have those games, we will improve more and more. And we are expecting our cricket board and ICC to give us more matches for our improvement. So, we are hoping that they take a lot of series with other teams. And the Champions Trophy is also ahead.”
(The Guardian report)
