 One of the major worries that has been bothering most teams so far in the IPL
has been the "tactical time-outs". Most players and officials including
Tom Moody, VB Chandrasekhar and even Sachin Tendulkar have been
pretty vocal about the fact that its something that the game can do without.
And it seems that the officials might relent. But, to only some extent.
Lalit Modi, the Commissioner of the IPL said that the 'tactical time
outs' could be reduced from the current 7.5 minutes per innings to 2 slots of
2.5 minutes each per innings. Effectively, it means that there'll still be a
5 minute break in each innings, only that this time the breaks would happen
twice in every innings. Although nothing's been finalized as yet, but if this
proposal is ratified by the tournament's technical committee it could be implemented
during the Semi-finals and Final of the tournament. As per plans, the idea is
to have the 1st time-out after the completion of the Powerplay and the 2nd time-out
can be chosen by the fielding side at any stage of the innings. Though Modi
did admit that the 7.5 minute break 'may look a little bit longer' he went on
to defend the very idea of time-outs stating that strategy breaks happen in
every sport.
Also, In a separate statement, he re-iterated that there were no plans to increase
the number of foreign players in a team. Modi said, "The focus (in the IPL)
is on getting local talent and I have shoved away the idea of increasing the number
of foreigners."
Elsewhere, Australia's Chairman of selectors, Andrew Hilditch made a
candid admission that by selecting Brett Lee ahead of some other promising
bowlers did amount to a sizeable gamble. Lee, who hasn't played matches at any
level ever since the Boxing Day test against the Proteas was selected for the
squad to play the ICC T20 World Cup next month. His only chance to prove match
fitness prior to that tournament would be in a T20 game against Pakistan and
then in the ongoing IPL matches. Hilditch's statement was also a testimony to
the fact that the bowler from New South Wales is still considered to be their
premier paceman and in the Chairman's words, the main objective is to give him
as much confidence and match practice before the all-important Ashes series.
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