England star batsman Kevin Pietersen’s retirement from limited overs cricket must open up some serious introspection among cricket administrators the world over. The South Africa-born England player revealed recently that he was forced to quit the shorter form of the game that was piling on to his workload. Quite clearly, the co-existence of all three forms of the game has hit a roadblock.

Fifty-over cricket has reached its sell by date and the advantages of scrapping it outweighs the positives. Sure, this will negate the significance of being a world champion team, but then something’s got to give if the paying public are going home happy. Obviously, Twenty20 cricket has affected the influence of its 50-50 counterpart. There were cynical views over Twenty20 cricket, but it has been accepted with time and it no more projects the so-called devaluation of cricket skills when compared to a longer (not longest) form. The Indian Premier League has played a huge role in the popularity of the shortest form.