Gould backs Shubman Gill’s call for more ODI tri-series, says fixtures planned ahead of 2027 World Cup

England Cricket Board chief Richard Gould on Aug. 9, 2026 backed Indian skipper Shubman Gill’s call for more One-Day International tri-series, telling Dainik Jagran that several such fixtures are planned ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2027. Gill had urged that the ODI format be left unchanged and recommended more triangular tournaments instead of bilateral series.

One Day Internationals have existed for more than 50 years, with the first match being played in 1971. The format was previously contested over 60 overs per innings before being reduced to 50 overs, and white balls replaced red balls in the format. The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup is played in the ODI format. With T20 cricket drawing much of the current attention and Test cricket being preserved, there have been proposals to alter ODI rules — including suggestions to reduce it to 40 overs — alongside criticism of those proposals.

A few weeks ago, in a press conference, Shubman Gill suggested that to make ODI cricket interesting again, there should probably be more triangular series instead of bilateral series. He said: “One thing is that we used to play a lot of triangular series and it was really fun to watch. India, Australia and Sri Lanka used to play those tournaments. If I ever get a chance to play in a triangular series, it will be fun because you are not playing one team continuously. If we want to make this format more interesting, instead of having bilateral series, we can have triangular or quadrangular series. That’ll be interesting to play and to watch.”

According to Dainik Jagran, ECB CEO Richard Gould acknowledged Shubman Gill’s comments and signalled the board was willing to consider triangular formats. Gould also noted that England’s schedule currently leans towards formats that do not stretch the international calendar excessively but said the ECB would be open to exploring tri-series as a viable option in the future.

India last played an ODI tri-series in 2013, a tournament that featured India, Sri Lanka and the West Indies.

Dainik Jagran reported that Gould confirmed several ODI tri-series fixtures are already lined up over the coming 12–18 months.