Jonty Rhodes predicted ODI cricket will suffer with the advent of T20 cricket and claimed bilateral cricket in the format will be played far less than in the times to come. The South African cricket legend explained that Test cricket has survived, but it is the 50-over format that faces an existential threat.

Speaking during the launch of the European Premier T20 League (ETPL) franchise Rotterdam Dockers’ jersey at Mumbai’s Cricket Club of India (CCI) on Tuesday (August 11), the Proteas star claimed that the shortest format is bringing a fresh crowd to the game with a different perspective.

“When T20 cricket first started, people were saying it was going to put pressure on Test cricket and, amazingly, it has not. Some Test cricket looks like T20 at times, with aggressive batting and bowling. For me, it is always about understanding that 50-over cricket might be the one format that could be in trouble in the years ahead because we are bringing in such a fresh crowd and a different perspective to the game. From that point of view, we’re really fortunate that what 50-over cricket has is a base of really passionate fans who will support their team no matter what format or version it is. At this stage, I think there will be fewer and fewer bilateral series, but it is very difficult to think of cricket without the 50-over version,” said Rhodes in a media interaction at the event.

He also made a bold claim and stated that players will start to retire earlier than usual from international cricket and decide to focus on playing franchise cricket leagues. His comments come on the back of Nicholas Pooran and Heinrich Klaasen’s retirement last year ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup and 2027 Cricket World Cup.

“We’ve seen in the FIFA World Cup the passion that people have for playing for their country. It’s often the case because they don’t get to do it that often. So, outside of a FIFA World Cup year, most of those international stars are playing for their clubs and franchises, and you might see more and more of that happening from a cricketing perspective. To have three different formats within cricket competing with franchise cricket around the world, players will start making a choice, and that choice could be ending their international careers slightly earlier,” said Rhodes.

The South African star, who is widely regarded as the greatest fielder of the game, is the co-owner of the ETPL side from Rotterdam alongside Bollywood actor John Abraham as well as South African cricketers Klaasen and Faf du Plessis.

Rhodes expressed confidence that South Africa will break their long wait of winning their maiden World Cup next year when they host the mega event after 24 years alongside Zimbabwe and Namibia.

We, as South Africans, are looking forward to hosting it. It’s been a while, and it’s great that it’s come around again. Good timing for us, as the team is playing pretty well. There are a few things that we would like to settle, and one of those is obviously winning an ICC limited-overs trophy,” said Rhodes.