‘ODIs ‘almost died out’, worst format to play: Moeen Ali

Former England all-rounder Moeen Ali has said that ODI cricket format has almost died out and is worst format to play under the current rules.

Moeen Ali, who played 138 ODIs for England, said that the existing rules are “terrible.”

“The format has almost completely died out, apart from World Cups and Champions Trophy. It is the worst format to play and I think there are many reasons for that,” Moeen told Talksport Cricket.

“I think the rules are terrible. To have that extra fielder after (the first powerplay), I think it’s a horrendous rule for taking wickets, building any sort of pressure. Guys are averaging 60, 70 in ODI cricket now because of that,” he added.

“When you’re bowling at somebody and you put a little bit of pressure, he just reverse-sweeps and it’s not even a single, it’s a four. It’s just there’s always that option available for the batters (to score),” he said.

Moeen Ali also spoke about how the reverse swing has been eliminated from the game because of two new balls and how the art of hitting the softer ball has been completely eliminated.

“On top of all this, you have two new balls, you lose the reverse swing, you lose the art of trying to hit a softer ball,” he said.

“Everything’s always in the middle and crisp, and it’s flying off your bat and stuff. I think for those reasons, the cricket’s just died. 50-over cricket has died,” Moeen added.