Gautam Gambhir, Brett Lee reject idea of splitting T20s into four innings

Mumbai, May 4: There have been suggestions for changes and innovations in the game of cricket from time to time to make it more exciting. Twenty20 is the most recent format introduced in the game and became an instant hit. T20 leagues are being held all over the world it has made the game more popular.

The gentleman's game has seen a smooth transition from Test Cricket to the ODIs to the T20s. There is a now a school of thought which has come up with the idea of splitting the 20-over format game into four innings.

Cricket Australia's Big Bash League (BBL) has found the idea quite unique but same couldn't be said about former cricketers. Gautam Gambhir and Brett Lee while speaking on Star Sports' Cricket Connected said they are not in favour of T20s being split into 4 innings after Big Bash League called it an "interesting idea".

Former Australia pace legend Brett Lee said, "I am all for T20 cricket whether it's the Indian Premier League or the Big Bash to have some flair about it, some excitement to bring people to the game. But there are some things you want to keep traditional when it comes to cricket and I think having 4 innings is a bit too much. I still think it's always nice to see a target, and try and chase that target down or defend it."

Former India opener Gautam Gambhir, who has led Kolkata Knight Riders to two IPL triumphs, said, "I'm not a big believer that we should split T20 cricket into two innings. I think, Sachin Tendulkar somewhere gave a suggestion that we could try doing it with 50 overs which makes a lot of sense because you've got 25 overs (each). It also probably takes the toss away as well - because in some conditions the toss plays a huge role and I was absolutely favour of that as well. But not in T20 cricket, it's too short a format and there's hardly any time. Splitting that into 10 overs each will be too short an inning."