IPL games introduce 'strategy breaks' of 15 minutes

 

Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi confirmed Thursday that a 'strategy break' will be introduced for the forthcoming season in South Africa.

Games will now take longer with the introduction of a 'time out' but there will be no action at all during the added time.

Fans who have become accustomed to Twenty20 matches lasting just three hours are in for a surprise during the second season of the IPL - they will now last three-and-a-quarter hours. Part of the appeal of the shortest form of the game is the non-stop action but IPL games will now take longer and there will be no action at all during the added time.

The IPL are planning to market the added time as an 'innovation' by calling it a tactical 'time out' but the fact that each innings will now come to a halt for seven-and-a-half minutes after exactly 10 overs makes it neither tactical nor, indeed, practical.

The seven-and-a-half minute break will see the stadium crowd entertained by a live band while television audiences will watch three, separate two-and-a-half minute segments, two of which will be sold commercially. The third will show the teams taking drinks and discussing 'tactics' to add some validity to the argument for the 'time out.'

While one section will be compulsory, mainstream advertising, the other will be set aside for 'special projects'. Queen Rania of Jordan, well known for her agenda of social reform and progression, will lead the way with a series of short films aimed at African children expounding the importance of education.

The IPL can justifiably claim that the project is well intentioned and for a good cause. And at approximately $1million per episode, it's also very lucrative. There are 118 two-and-half minute slots for sale.

The second reserved for advertising.

Production teams have also been told that they need to fit 2000 seconds (around 33 minutes) of advertising into every match, a task described by a different member of the production team as "virtually impossible."

The reason also behind the 'strategy break'  was that players were going back and forth with messages and there was a lot of strategy being decided from time to time in last season of IPL.
So it’s going to tighten those extremely as far as overs are concerned, time of overs is concerned and time of play is concerned.
The league commissioner revealed that IPL will do so by imposing stiff financial penalties on fielding sides if they go over the time allocated for bowling their overs.
The first penalty for the captain is 20,000 dollars for a first offence.For the second offence the entire team gets penalised 20,000 - that's 220,000 (in total). For the third offence the captain gets banned for a game and the team gets penalised 360,000.

The IPL starts Saturday with a double-header at Newlands.