Champions Trophy | What is the road ahead for cricket’s middle-child?

ODIs, cricket's middle child, fights for relevance amidst Tests and T20Is, with the Champions Trophy revival offering hope.

In psychology, there is a theory called the ‘middle-child syndrome’. One of the inferences is that the middle child in a family — stuck between the older and younger siblings — feels neglected or starved of parental love and attention.

In recent times, the ODI game has become cricket’s middle child caught between the classical Tests and the fast-paced T20Is. It has been denied love and proper care from the players and administrators except once every four years when the 50-over World Cup occurs.

After the inaugural World Cup in 1975, ODIs helped grow the sport over the next three decades, raking in the moolah and helping cricket join the big league in terms of commercial value despite its relatively small footprint and reach.

During the final decade of the 20th century, the format breathed fresh air into the sport thanks to a confluence of events led by the sub-continental teams. Some factors include India’s booming economy, Pakistan (1992) and Sri Lanka (1996) becoming world champions, and Bangladesh qualifying for its first World Cup in 1999.

To capitalise on the success, the International Cricket Council started another multi-nation tournament, the ICC KnockOut Trophy or the ‘mini World Cup,’ in 1998 (Dhaka, Bangladesh) to fill its coffers and spread the game.

After the second edition (Kenya 2000), it was renamed the ICC Champions Trophy in 2002. The event was held every two years until 2006 and became a quadrennial event from 2009 to 2017 before being discontinued.

Following the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in 2007, it became evident that T20s would be the future of cricket. The Indian Premier League, which started in 2008, further shifted the audience to the three-hour version of the game, leading to the mushrooming of similar leagues across the cricket-playing world.