South Africa spinner Keshav Maharaj raised his support for the ODI Super League, which won’t be a part of ICC’s next Future Tours Programme cycle.
With just a day’s gap following the final ODI against India in Manchester, England are set to take on the Proteas for the first of three ODIs at the Riverside Ground on July 19. That kicks off a long, multi-format series, which also features three T20Is and as many Tests.
The series, meanwhile, is not a part of the ODI Super League, wherein South Africa are precariously placed at the 11th position, which puts their hopes for a direct qualification to the next year’s World Cup in India.
Their chances have taken a further dent after them having opted out of Super League ODIs against Australia next January, with CSA aiming to have the best of players available for a new franchise T20 competition in bid to enhance the financial aspect further.
The Proteas are however, marked to host England for three Super League games in February 2023. As per the ICC CWC Super League norms, the top-eight teams in the cycle will automatically qualify for the 2023 Cricket World Cup, with the remaining teams to play in the Qualifier tournament, featuring five Associate teams, to grab the final two spots.
India automatically qualify to the tournament major on the account of being the tournament hosts. The Super League will be scrapped after its current cycle, and will not be a part of ICC’s next FTP.
Maharaj, who will lead South Africa in absence of injured Temba Bavuma, argued that the Super League is a good system, and that it makes teams field their best players regularly. Notably, premier speedster Kagiso Rabada will not be a part of the ODIs in bid to focus more on the shortest format with the T20 World Cup less than three months away.
“It’s good to have the Super League. It makes you play your best cricket throughout the year and allows you to come up with various styles of play that you want to implement at the World Cup.
I think it’s a good system. You’ve got to play your best team at all times. I’m in favour of it.”
Maharaj said, per IOL.
His comments extend the support for the ODI format, which has somewhat taken a beating with the game’s increasingly packed schedule. Recently, India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin had stated that the 50-over version “needs to find its relevance”.
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On July 18, Ben Stokes, one of the game’s finest all-rounders currently and the player of the 2019 World Cup final, decided to retire from ODIs, citing that playing all three formats had become “unsustainable” for him.
As for Maharaj, the upcoming three ODIs against England present them another chance to try and form a solid core ahead of the 2023 World Cup.
“It’s important for us as an ODI unit to keep playing together. The more you play the better you get. It’s still an international cricket game, so there’s enough motivation. And it’s build-up for a series that does carry points.
I’m so glad we’re playing it leading up to an important summer and year for us. In the next two years there are a lot of ICC events coming up, and it’s a nice way of finding combinations you want to play going forward,”
Maharaj added.
