SSC
What is the maximum number of overs a bowler can bowl in a men's One-Day International (ODI) match?
Answer (Detailed Solution Below)View answer ▾Hide ▴
Answer: Option B — 10 overs
Detailed Solution
In a One-Day International (ODI), each team's innings consists of 50 overs, and no bowler may bowl more than one-fifth of the overs, that is, a maximum of 10 overs (60 legal balls) per bowler.
Bowling limits in different formats:
- ODI (50 overs per side): 10 overs per bowler.
- T20 (20 overs per side): 4 overs per bowler.
- The Hundred (100 balls per side, in England): 20 balls per bowler.
- Test cricket: no limit on the number of overs a bowler can bowl.
- Why there is a limit: it ensures that a team uses at least five bowlers and prevents one bowler from dominating the whole innings.
If a match is shortened (for example, by rain), the limit is reduced in proportion. For example, in a 40-over match, each bowler can bowl 8 overs.
Other key ODI rules:
- Powerplays: in overs 1-10, only 2 fielders are allowed outside the 30-yard circle; in overs 11-40, up to 4; in overs 41-50, up to 5.
- Two new white balls are used, one from each end.
- The Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method is used to set revised targets in rain-affected matches.
- A free hit is given after a no-ball for overstepping.
History of ODIs:
The first ODI was played on 5 January 1971 between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, after a Test match was washed out by rain. It was 40 overs (of eight balls) per side.
Early World Cups (1975, 1979 and 1983) were 60 overs per side; the format became 50 overs from the 1987 World Cup.
India played its first ODI in 1974 against England at Leeds.
Why not the other options?
- ✗8 overs would be the limit in a 40-over match.
- ✗12 overs was the limit in the old 60-over World Cup matches.
- ✗15 overs is not a limit used in ODI cricket.
Quick tip
Remember: Bowler's limit = 10 overs in ODI (one-fifth of 50), 4 overs in T20, no limit in Tests; first ODI = 5 January 1971 (MCG); 50-over World Cups since 1987.
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Sports — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Sports, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers sports GK: major tournaments and their venues, trophies and cups associated with each sport, sports terms, the number of players in a team, sports awards in India, Olympic and Asian Games facts, and famous sportspersons and their achievements. Common questions ask which sport a trophy belongs to (such as the Durand Cup for football or the Ranji Trophy for cricket), which term is used in which sport, and where a tournament was held. Records and results change after every season, so pair static facts such as team sizes and terms with recent results from current affairs. Practise the sports questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.