<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Pakistan pace bowling legend Wasim Akram feels ODI cricket has become "run-of-the-mill" stuff now and wants the administrators of the game to scrap the format for good. Akram's comments came close on the heels of England all-rounder Ben Stokes' sudden retirement from ODIs, which has triggered a serious debate over the existence of 50-over cricket.</span><br></div><div><br></div><div>"I think so (ODIs should scrapped). In England you have full houses. In India, Pakistan especially, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, South Africa, one-day cricket you are not going to fill the stadiums," he said in Vaughany and Tuffers Cricket Club podcast.</div><div><br></div><div>"They are doing it just for the sake of doing it. After the first 10 overs, it's just 'OK, just go a run a ball, get a boundary, four fielders in and you get to 200, 220 in 40 overs' and then have a go last 10 overs. Another 100. It's kind of run-of-the-mill." Akram supported Stokes' decision to quit from ODIs, citing "unsustainable" workload.</div><div><br></div><div>"Him (Stokes) deciding that he is retiring from one-day cricket is quite sad but I agree with him," said the left-arm pacer, who scalped 502 wickets in 356 ODIs during his career, besides bowling Pakistan to victory in the 1992 Cricket World Cup final.</div><div><br></div><div>"Even as a commentator … one-day cricket is just a drag now, especially after T20. I can imagine as a player. 50 overs, 50 overs, then you have to pre-game, post-game, the lunch game," added the cricketer-turned-commentator.</div><div><br></div><div>Akram said the 50-over game has no future in front of the ever-growing T20 format.</div><div><br></div><div>"T20 is kind of easier, four hours the game is over. The leagues all around the world, there is a lot more money - I suppose this is part and parcel of the modern cricket. T20 or Test cricket. One-day cricket is kind of dying.</div><div><br></div><div>"It is quite tiring for a player to play one-day cricket. After T20, one-day cricket seems it is going for days. So players are focussing on more shorter format. And longer format obviously (with) Test cricket," he said.</div><div><br></div><div>For Akram, Test cricket remains the pinnacle of the game for a player.</div><div>"There's a battle within the battle in Test cricket. I always preferred Test matches. One-day used to be fun but Test matches were where you were recognised as a player … where people still pick you for the world XIs," he said.</div><div><br></div><div>"OK money matters - I understand where they are coming from - but they should also remember if they want to be recognised as one of the greats of the game." Akram also called on the administrators of the game to consider a complete overhaul of the overall schedule. Source : NDTV</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>