I think ODIs are just formulaic by nature. The problem doesn't lie in the formats, or rules, or bats or whatever - it's just what happens when you have an extremely professionalized sport with lots of money at stake. No one is going to be creative at the risk of losing. Everyone is just going to stick to the script so they don't get lambasted when they try a new approach and lose.
I honestly find ODIs to be exciting based on how closely fought the game is, independent of the runs being scored. The difference between 200 vs 200 and 350 vs 350 is simply that the bar has been shifted on what an 'acceptable' outcome is off one delivery. A single in the 350 vs 350 is as good as a dot ball in 200 vs 200. I just adjust my expectations accordingly and still enjoy the game.
The issue I used to have is that the bar for 'good' bowling has gotten so high - for a bowler to dominate a batting lineup, they can't just be a talented guy who bowls in good areas. Now you have to be a freak. Freakish pace, weird action, freakish amounts of spin. Something like that. And that's just so hard to find. Meanwhile the bar for a 'good' batsman has gotten lower, to the point we aren't really impressed by someone smashing a matchwinning 100 off 70 balls anymore. We're only impressed by consistency over the course of a series, season, year, or by showing up in a pressure scenario.
But I don't have that issue anymore - it seems that bowlers are learning how to be clever. Before if you got a wicket by someone slogging you to the deep, you kinda feel cheap. You didn't beat the batsman, didn't bowl a ball too good for him, you just got smacked and happen to have a fielder underneath it. Got lucky. But modern bowlers don't think that way anymore. They celebrate those wickets like their own. They have elaborate plans, tricks, subtle variations - they want batsmen to hit them to the fielder in the deep. Bats have gotten better, but so have fielders, and boundary catching today is at a whole new level. Bowlers are taking advantage of this.
So I think we just need to adjust our expectation of what good bowling is. A curving outswinger taking off a batsman's off stump is ***y as hell, but in today's cricket that is on par to a off cutter that gets mistimed to deep midwicket in terms of 'good' bowling. I think we're going to see a lot of inncouous looking spinners and seamers start to dominate in the years to come, and they'll rarely take aesthetically appealing wickets, and there will be a learning curve to start to appreciate these guys for the skill they really have, that isn't as obvious to the naked eye.
