ICC Champions Trophy 2025 took place in Pakistan where in most of the matches, more than half of the stadiums were seen empty during a game. Along with the rise of T20 cricket and different short-format leagues around cricket, many experts are claiming that ODI cricket will soon lose its touch. One such person is Moeen Ali, the former England player, who has labelled ODI cricket as the ‘worst format to play’. Moeen Ali, who retired from international cricket in September 2024 had a conversation on Talksport Cricket where he mentioned that extreme batters-friendly pitches and ‘rules changed’ have forced a decline in the ODI format. Also Read: 3 Players Who Can Replace Jos Buttler As England Captain On Talksport Cricket Moeen Ali said: “The format has almost completely died out, apart from World Cups and Champions Trophy. It is the worst format to play and I think there are many reasons for that.” He further added: “I think the rules are terrible. To have that extra fielder in after [the first powerplay], I think it’s a horrendous rule for taking wickets, building any sort of pressure. Guys are averaging 60, 70 in ODI cricket now because of that. When you’re bowling at somebody and you put a little bit of pressure, he just reverse-sweeps and it’s not even a single, it’s a four. It’s just there’s always that option available for the batters [to score].” Moeen Ali further mentioned that the addition of two new balls in the format has made it easy for the batters to play in the middle overs and it is one of the key reasons why ODI cricket has died. “On top of all this, you have two new balls, you lose the reverse swing, you lose the art of trying to hit a softer ball. Everything’s always in the middle and crisp and it’s flying off your bat and stuff. I think for those reasons, the cricket’s just died. 50-over cricket has died.” Moeen Ali featured in 138 ODI matches for England where he scored 2355 runs and also took 111 wickets.