Indian captain Rohit Sharma has dismissed talks about ODI cricket being on the verge of extinction due to the rise of lucrative T20 leagues around the world. There has been a lot of talk about players choosing to quit ODI cricket and focus on other formats since Ben Stokes announced his retirement from one-day cricket.
The 35-year-old, who is one of the best ODI batters of all time, said that it was because of ODI cricket that the world could actually see what Rohit Sharma was and what he is today and so for that reason, for him, ODI matches will always have relevance and he dismissed the talks about the 50-over games losing their appeal.
However, while speaking at a launch event hosted by a popular brand, here’s what Rohit Sharma had to say about why all three formats were important to him.
“Mera naam hi One-day cricket se bana hai (I owe my fame to One-Day cricket). Sab bekar ki baatein hai (all this talk about ODIs being outdated is futile). People were earlier talking (similarly) about Test cricket. For me, cricket is important – whatever be the format.
“I would never say that ODI is getting finished or T20 is getting finished or Tests are nearing an end. I wish there is another format as well, because for me, playing the game is most important. Since childhood, we dreamt of playing the game for India and in my mind. Whenever we play ODIs, stadiums are full, the excitement remains high. It’s an individual choice as to which format to play or not, but for me, all three formats are important,” Rohit was quoted as saying by Times Of India ok Wednesday.