‘Bottomline is, best teams will still win’

This is now a changing phase in most of the countries. The ICC have seen that the public are prepared to come down to watch matches that are exciting throughout their duration.

Sachin Tendulkar

It will not be a standard one-day game with the introduction of the new rules. I don’t know how different it will be, but the captains and teams will have to sit down and chalk out plans to introduce an element of surprise. Plenty of planning would be needed.

We will have to play a couple of games before actually gauging the exact impact.

Dean Jones

We still get full houses in the standard 50-overs cricket matches, but I don’t mind these rules; they are surely worth a try. They should neutralise the effect of toss or the pitch on the results of the matches. On a green pitch, put into bat, a side, at 4/40, might bring in an extra batsman, and score 230 instead of 180. This will also help reduce the 100-run or 10-wicket defeats. I don’t think the on-ground spectators will find it too tough to understand what’s going on. There will definitely be a signal. TV people will make sure that it doesn’t stay alien to crowds for long.

This might also give a new life to ageing players such as VVS Laxman and Anil Kumble.

But the bottom line is, even with all the changes, the best teams will still win. The game has changed over the years, but the best team has kept winning.

Asif Iqbal

It’s a good idea to change the overs restriction because the game had become predictable. Earlier, only opening bowlers used to get the stick, and only batsman got the advantage of restrictions. Now, this will be spread over.

But 12 players is no proper cricket match. The game should be played properly, and we should have complete players, not parts (Batting, bowling or fielding) of them.

— K. Shriniwas Rao & Sidharth Monga