Modi to mull over 'strategy break' row after season II

Reacting to leading players like Sachin Tendulkar's criticism of the 'strategy break' (seven-and-half minutes break at the end of every 10 overs), IPL chairman Lalit Modi said he would take the observations into consideration while reassessing the innovation after the second edition of the Twenty20 tournament gets over.

''I neither agree nor disagree -- what I will do is repeat the point I started with: this is an innovation, an experiment we are trying this year,'' Modi said.

''And as with all innovations, there are probably good points to this, and also bad points -- but there will be time to evaluate those,'' Modi wrote on his blog for the IPL's official website.

''When the league is over, the last ball has been bowled here in South Africa and a winner has been crowned, our real work will begin to fine tune the Indian Premier League (IPL) for improvements in Season 2010 next year.

''On the basis of an exhaustive review, we will be able to arrive at some conclusions on what has worked, what hasn't worked; we will be able to decide what needs to be changed, or fine-tuned, or scrapped altogether,'' he added.

Modi also dismissed the media criticism of 'strategy breaks' as ''ill-informed'', insisting those are not aimed at increasing advertising revenue.

''Ill-informed media commentary that we have introduced strategy breaks simply to squeeze in more ads does us a disservice,'' Modi said.

''Most of you seem to think that it is an unnecessary interruption, designed only so that we can insert more ads.

The 'strategy break' is an innovative deviation from tradition, which gives teams an opportunity to consult and alter strategies after 10 overs to get their acts right,'' he said.

''Strategy time-outs, are designed so the coach can have some inputs into the course of the game. Such practices are normal in the world of sport be it on the Grid- Iron or the basketball courts of the NBA. We spoke to coaches of the various teams, to administrators, and others, and decided to try this out as an innovation,'' he explained.