“Test cricket not going anywhere, ODIs dying a slow death,” Usman Khawaja says he is not much into 50-over cricket apart from World Cup

The Australian top-order batsman Usman Khawaja has said that he doesn’t think there is an immediate threat to the existence of test cricket, but he does think that One Day International (ODI) cricket is on a steep downward spiral and it seems like the format is dying a “slow death”.

Usman Khawaja, who was speaking to ESPNcricinfo, said that he himself doesn’t take that much interest in 50-over cricket these days, unless and until the ODI World Cup is taking place. The ODI World Cup still holds a lot of significance and grabs eyeballs, but other than that, there is not much interest in the 50-over format.

According to Khawaja, when he chats with people, a lot of them tell him that they have got a very high regard for test cricket and they love watching it and T20 leagues have obviously gained immense popularity around the world. But, then the question arises of whether the third format, the ODI format, offers much?

Test cricket and T20 cricket can be balanced: Usman Khawaja

Usman Khawaja is of the view that test cricket and T20 cricket can be balanced with proper scheduling for both formats, despite the emergence of many T20 leagues around the world.

Apart from Usman Khawaja, another prominent cricketer who voiced his opinion recently on ODI cricket is Wasim Akram. Wasim was quoted saying on Vaughany and Tuffers podcast that ODI cricket should be removed completely from the cricket calendar.

Khawaja, however, thinks that the ODI World Cup is still a tournament that is worth a watch and it’s a very important tournament, but the bilateral ODIs are not giving much in terms of viewership.

Khawaja is currently a part of the Australian test team and he also plies his trade playing for Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The left-hander, however, hasn’t had an IPL contract in the last 5 years.