"Feel There Is An Imbalance...": Sachin Tendulkar's Huge Take On ODIs

The legendary Sachin Tendulkar on Friday said that One-day cricket is heavily tilted towards the batters and the imbalance between the bat and the ball must be looked into, adding that Test format needs to be played on all kinds of pitches to keep the fans interested. The objectivity of playing the ODI format, in the age of T20 cricket, is already a subject of debate and discussion with many of the opinion that it's enough for the game to keep just the shortest version and the five-day format, considered the real test of a cricketer.

The iconic cricketer firmly believes that the game has become faster after the introduction of the slam-bang T20 format and it's time to do something that will ensure that equilibrium remains in ODI cricket.

"You blink and the match is over. I feel all three formats are different but somewhere I feel one-day format (is something that) people need to have a look at closely," Tendulkar told a select group of journalists ahead of his 50th birthday.

"I feel there is an imbalance between the bat and the ball. It is too much at this point in time in favour of the batters," he opined The cricket legend turns 50 on Monday.

Tendulkar said bowlers need to be given some advantage because the current rules make it a batters' game, especially with two white balls in play and field restrictions allowing batters to have a lot of freedom without being adequately challenged.

"With two new balls even in the 25th over the ball is literally 12 or 13 overs old. There is no such thing as reverse swing or the discolouration of the ball, or the ball becoming soft.

"I find these factors really put pressure on the bowling side and there were challenges (earlier) that one did not pick the ball because of the