After the emergence of T-20 Internationals, doubts are expressed over the future of the 50-over format. The ongoing ODI World Cup in India has given the International Cricket Council (ICC) several reasons for optimism. 

According to the ICC’s chief commercial officer Anurag Dahiya, the television viewership had hit 500 million and the digital numbers too had seen record numbers with the organisers expecting the overall tally to be double that of the 2019 edition after the 35th game at Wankhede on Wednesday.

Following successive T20 World Cups in 2021 and 2022, there were apprehensions ahead of this World Cup. Despite being staged in India, the usual buzz that one witnessed in 2011 was missing. There were also fears that the cricket-crazy public’s appetite for the 50-over game may have come down.

But Dahiya said that this edition has consigned all those concerns to the bin, and showed that the 50-over format is here to stay. “Looking at engagement on TV, the numbers that have been coming in have been superlative; 500 million by the end of the 35th game (48-game tournament). We have seen digital records being broken twice in terms of concurrence."

He added, " We are hoping we will get to see those broken two times, if not thrice, more. Even concurrency on TV has been amazing. Overall, on live coverage, we could not have asked for more. It has exceeded expectations.”