Why scoring 300+ runs has become easy in ODI cricket?

There was a time when almost getting past the 300-run mark seemed like a massive landmark in one-day international cricket. Reaching it mostly guarantees a victory for a particular international side. In the early 2000’s, a score of around 290 to 300 was considered a bigger achievement for a particular international side. 

Nowadays, in ODI cricket, if a target is around 260 to 270 runs, it is often considered a low-scoring contest. It will also add spice to ODI World Cup betting enthusiasts. 

But in the recent period of time, things have changed by leaps and bounds, as the international side has twenty or more times gone past 300 run landmarks. International sides like South Africa, Australia, and India have already achieved 400 run marks more than twice.

5 Reasons Why Scoring 300+ Runs Has Become Easy in ODI Cricket 

 These are the five reasons why reaching 300 run marks in the ODI has become so frequent. 

1. Sudden Change in the Fielding Rules

Nowadays, changes in the fielding rules appear to be the most relevant reason why achieving 300-plus totals has gone up drastically. 

• During the late 2000’s, there used to be five fielders outside the 30-yard circle in the non-power play-overs. 
• But, now the captain is allowed to only have four fielders outside the 30-yard circle. It is the reduction of one fielder that has meant there is ample space on the ground that can never be guarded by the fielders. 
• At times, these open spaces are exploited by the batsmen, as they have utilized the field brilliantly simply by hitting a boundary at their own will, even in the death overs.

2. Advent of the T20 Cricket

The explosive hitting and stunning shots that we see from modern-day batsmen like Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Glenn Maxwell are a modernization of T20I cricket. 

• The inception of it has made a score of 290 to 300 plus an average score on most batting pitches. 
• The required rate of around 9-10 per over appears to be pretty feasible for the chasing side these days in ODI cricket.

3. Introduction of Two New Balls

In modern-day cricket, the ICC has introduced the rule of two new balls from either end just to narrow down the gap between both the ball and bat in the game, but this move originally proved to be a blessing in disguise for most modern-day batsmen. 

• Batsmen nowadays have become clever, and they quickly learn how to negotiate the new ball without any rash strokes, as they know they can utilize the advantage of the comparatively harder ball even in the death over ranging from 40 to 50. 
• Around the 36th over of the batting power play, it is the batting team that starts to accelerate their batting tempo as the ball still comes on quite nicely onto the bat as it is an 18-over-old ball.

4. Better Bats

It is the quality of the cricket bat that has rapidly improved in the last few years, as even the top edges at times go for the maximum. 

• Earlier, the sweet spot in the bat was generally present within the center part of the bat, but that has significantly changed by now. The sweet part appears to be present in the lower part of the bat and makes hitting easier for the modern-day cricketer. 
• Nowadays, most cricket bats are designed simply by using aerodynamics, and the blade is designed in such a manner that it cuts as little air as possible on its way down to help improve the bat’s speed. 
• In other words, there is a lot more meat in the core of the bat and less in the other areas of it, which makes it lighter and more compact to heave those big blows.

5. The slump in the Quality of the Bowlers

When you compare the bowlers of the early 1990s and early 2000s with modern-day bowlers, we find that the difference between them is magnanimous. 

• The older generation of bowlers, including the likes of Wasim Akram, Glenn McGrath, Waqar Younis, Brett Lee, Alan Donald, Shane Warne, and Muttiah Muralitharan, had one thing in common: whatever the situation of the game, they always tried to attack the batsmen the most rather than containing themselves and had the wicket-taking approach. 
• Whereas, the modern-gen bowlers always lack this quality and are always satisfied being a miser and not a wicket-taker.

Concluding Thoughts on why scoring 300 plus runs has becomes easy in ODI Cricket

From the above discussion, it is pretty clear that since the inception of modern-day cricket, a score of more than 300 appears to be a below-par total, especially in the 50-over formats. 

These are the five reasons why modern-day international sides can score over 300 runs in a regular period of time. Let’s wait and watch how many teams would cross this threshold.