ICC likely to try ODIs the Sachin's way

New Delhi:

The International Cricket Council is likely to experiment and conduct a four-innings ODI match with each inning comprised of 25 overs.

It was master blaster Sachin Tendulkar who came up with this new proposal to save the 50-over format. He suggested that one-day matches be split into four innings of 25-overs-a-side.

"I am for 50-over cricket. I think we should have 25 overs a side to start with. I thought of this during the 2002 Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka," the champion batsman had said.

ICC cricket manager Dave Richardson said a trial could be introduced soon.

"I quite like that idea, I believe South Africa may try something along those lines," he told BBC Sport.

"This might work in day-night cricket where one team has to bat in day and the other at night.

"It provides something different and reduces the effects on the team who loses the toss and has to bat first on a damp wicket," he said.

Richardson revealed the concept of two 25-over innings had been proposed a number of times and resurfaced once again at the ICC's cricket committee annual meeting at Lord's in May.

One-day cricket is already facing tough challenge from Twenty20 and the England and Wales Cricket Board scrapped Friends Provident trophy, the only 50-over domestic tournament, in favour of a Twenty20 event.

Richardson, however, is concerned that splitting it into two innings would mean less centuries as batsmen would have less overs to bat.

"I don't necessarily like the idea of playing two matches of 25 overs each with the openers batting again. The charm of one-day cricket is seeing someone batting at four and scoring a good hundred," Richardson said.

"If you bat in the middle order of a Twenty20 or a new 25-over innings, you're not to get much of an opportunity to hit three figures, one downside of the Twenty20 game," he said.

He, however, made it clear that such an experiment should be conducted at the domestic level before pushing it into international cricket.

"If it has been trialled successfully at domestic level, it may give the trial to give it the go-ahead at international level," he said.

"The ICC has been proactive with ideas and innovations, like the powerplays. The idea of the 'super-sub' wasn't as successful and got rid of quite quickly. One of the criticisms was that we trialled things at international as opposed to domestic level.

"Our tactics going forward are member countries trial changes first domestically and if they are successful, then we can take them on board at the international level," Richardson said.

The ICC Cricket Committee will discuss the result of the experiment when it meets next year.

(With PTI inputs)