ODI cricket dying a slow death: Usman Khawaja

Usman Khawaja

Australian Test opener Usman Khawaja believes ODI cricket is witnessing a slow death because of the proliferation of T20 leagues around the world and a hectic international calendar.

Khawaja is the latest cricketer to join the debate over the existence of 50-over cricket after England superstar Ben Stokes on Monday stunned the cricketing world by announcing his sudden retirement from ODI cricket at the age of 31. Calling playing three formats as "unsustainable" for him, Stokes, who is also England's Test captain, said cricketers "are not like cars" and there is "too much cricket rammed in."

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"I think personally one-day cricket is dying a slow death," Khawaja, who has represented Australia in 40 ODIs since making his debut in the format in 2013, told reporters in Brisbane on Friday. "There's still the World Cup, which I think is really fun and it's enjoyable to watch, but other than that, even myself personally, I'm probably not into one-day cricket as much either."

Khawaja argued that the 50-over format has lost its relevance, of late, as the T20 World Cup is knocking on the doors. "Right now it feels like it's not really that important because of the T20 World Cup," Khawaja said. "Something has to give, because you can't have all three formats all together playing all the games; you're going to have to decide and choose."

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