T20 cricket affecting the charm of ODIs

New Delhi: After three months after just watching T20 cricket, fans got to taste the original limited overs version. The 50-over format suddenly seems like the poor cousin of the glitzy and fast paced T20 version.

There were some pretty faces in the crowd, but no cheerleaders. Plenty of sixes, a dazzling hundred, over 650 runs in the day. Even a thrilling run chase. But all the action spread over 100 overs and eight hours.

And the players too had to make the adjustment. Conditioned in recent times to the hectic pace of the T20s, they suddenly had time at hand to settle in.

With a win under his belt after a while, the Indian captain wasn't willing to indulge in the debate about the two formats.

"One of the things about the formats is that in T20 is very different from the 50-over version," MS Dhoni said after India beat West Indies in a high-scoring game. "We are very happy to win a game, but we are not thinking about the T20 because it's in the past now, we have lost and nothing can be done about it. So we are concentrating on the next three games."

But despite the enthusiasm of the crowds in Jamaica, questions remain about the 50-over format. Recent T20 carnivals have shown just why the game's shortest and crisp format offers the paying public what one-dayers just can't. Big hits, sharp fielding, imaginative bowling - all in a three-hour package as opposed to a whole day invested at the game or in front of TV screens.

Many believe that India, the engine that drives world cricket financially is gravitating towards T20 cricket and will soon run out of patience with 50-over matches.

"After T20, the 50 overs will suddenly seem too long, a little too boring," says former India batsman and commentator Sanjay Manjrekar. "What the T20 format also did was that it brought non-cricket followers also starting to follow the games. They will definitely not watch 50-over cricket. And the guys who were die-hard fans of one-day cricket, for them T20 is even better.

"The Indian viewership was one of the main reasons why one-day cricket was sustainable at the international level. India is not as 'unemployed' as it used to be. It's not going to sit in front of the television for seven hours in a day. India is now busy."

The ICC has, of course, consistently maintained that 50-over cricket remains its marquee limited overs format, while T20 cricket is to be played largely at the domestic level. And some recent rule changes have energised the 50-over format too.

"Every format has its own charm," says former Pakistan captain and world's leading ODI wicket-taker Wasim Akram. "What the ICC did best with the one-dayers was to introduce the powerplays. Anybody can now win the last 10 overs. People are definitely got their interest back to one-day cricket. I think people will continue to watch it."

With a stream of T20 tournaments scheduled including the Champions League and the World T20, the next few months promise an interesting tussle. Will 50-over cricket survive the onslaught from its brash, new version?