'ODIs will dwindle, Test and T20 cricket will come to fore' - Robin Uthappa predicts cricket's future

Former cricketer Robin Uthappa feel that cricket as a sport will grow only with the introduction of shorter formats. Uthappa is currently playing for the Dubai Capitals in the ILT20 in UAE and has been in top form, contributing well in team's success in the tournament.

"I think cricket is evolving and we as human beings are very rigid in the sense as a society, cricket is evolving, and it is extending to the point perhaps even in the direction of football that happened so many decades ago", the 37-year-old said in a select press briefing.

The opening batter shared his thoughts on whether there is too much cricket going around at the moment and if this would lead to a saturation point.

"In time you will see more leagues than international cricket. Right now, at this current FTP cycle, there seems to be a lot of cricket, international cricket is still there but you can see the rise of T20 cricket coming in," he said.

"In time to go, we will see a dwindling of One Day cricket, and just T20s and Test cricket will come to the fore, and perhaps the T10 cricket because it's a great version to kind of introduce a lot of young nations to cricket, associate nations into cricket and that's where the game is moving towards to have a surplus of these leagues coming in and it will then streamline itself over a period of time and that's just the process of evolution," added Uthappa.

The former cricketer further opened up on the future of ODI cricket and said that the format is on the verge of being phased out due to the rise of T20 leagues.

"No, I think the game is evolving in that direction. But it's also the viewership that dictates, what's going to be more popular and what's going to evolve, and what's going to devolve. And it's been a very natural process of evolution in that sense, which is why the T20 Cricket is coming to the fore. I do certainly believe that there will be a few more T10 leagues that will also come through the ranks. And like I said, T10 is a great version of cricket to kind of introduce the associate nations that are just starting, say teams like Germany, or China, and teams such as those to kind of play those so that they get a feel of what the sport generally entails.

"I see the game evolving in that direction and 50 over cricket, I don't think we live in a world today where people can invest seven hours of their day into coming and watching a 50 or a one-day game at the stadium or investing that much time and watching a one-day game you know or at home, on the telly, today you do get apps as well. So, the viewership will drop, and I think the evolution after this FTP cycle should be to kind of slowly wean off one-day cricket and move towards T20 and perhaps T10 Cricket and that's where it should stop, it shouldn't get lesser than that," he concluded.

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