The ongoing one-day international series between India and Australia has played its bit to prove that public attraction to the 50-over format of cricket is still undisturbed, according to Principal Adviser to the ICC I S Bindra.
"Before the start, everyone was treating the current India-Australia ODI series as a benchmark that would decide the fate of the 50-over format. But you see packed stadiums everywhere and most of the tickets for the Monday's match here also have already been sold out," said Bindra.
India will take on the visitors in fourth match of the high-octane series here on November 2.
Bindra, who is also the President of Punjab Cricket Association (PCA), of the opinion that Twenty20 matches were quite successful in attracting new section of audience to the game of cricket.
"T20 format is, in fact, helping attract new spectators. Earlier, those fans who used to watch only NBA, football and Formula One have started taking keen interest in cricket after 20-over games became popular. It is also helping promote the cricket as a whole," Bindra said at a press conference.
"A new fan-base is building up in ODIs because of T20. The second impact of the T20 is that earlier a score of 300 plus was considered safe in the one-dayers, but now even after posting 350 plus score, you can't be sure of winning. That has made the game even more exciting," he said.
{{/usCountry}}"A new fan-base is building up in ODIs because of T20. The second impact of the T20 is that earlier a score of 300 plus was considered safe in the one-dayers, but now even after posting 350 plus score, you can't be sure of winning. That has made the game even more exciting," he said.
{{/usCountry}}On the inaugural Champions League T20, involving top 12 domestic sides, Bindra said, "Local element is very important for such events. We saw the exit of India and South Africa at an early stage, which was bound to impact the spectators' interest."