Mandatory strategic time-outs fixed at five minutes

Modi clarifies on stand-off with television channels, news agencies

“The batting team would have to take the two-and-a-half-minute time-out mandatory between the sixth and eighth overs while the fielding side would have to take the time-out between the 11th and 16th overs,” IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi said here on Thursday.

Modi said the decision to specify the overs for taking the mandatory stoppages, lasting 2.5 minutes each, had been arrived at after having a look at the time-outs in other games like basketball and American football (NFL).

“We have found out that these are the times the batting and fielding teams normally rearrange their strategies. The players will not leave the field of play but would confer in the middle,” he said.

Modi said the batting side can opt for time-outs after the fifth, sixth or seventh over while the bowling team can do so after the end of the 10th to 15th overs.

Modi also spelt out the reasons for the cash-awash league’s stand-off with television news channels and major news agencies who are boycotting the third season of the T20 event.

“We have no issues relating to the news coverage and have come to an agreement on this with the news channels. The area of disagreement is over the usage of IPL footage in post-match packages whose rights are with our broadcast partner (Sony),” he said at a news conference on Thursday.

“As far as news agencies are concerned the conditions are that they cannot sell these photos commercially or give them to cricket-related websites (even though they are their subscribers),” he said.

“There have been many instances in the past when these photos were used for commercial purposes. You cannot use them to sell shampoo,” Modi declared.

The IPL chief claimed these restrictions on usage of video footage and still images by non-rights holders were nothing new in international sports events and existed in the Olympic Games, World Cups and major leagues like NBA. “We have taken these line by line, improved on each and every aspect and made our guidelines more friendly,” Modi asserted.