4 innings in T20s? 'Envelope' to replace coin toss? Aakash Chopra mentions unusual ideas to combat dew factor

Throughout the 2021 T20 World Cup, the possibility of dew towards the later stages of innings has made it rather predictable that captains winning the toss would opt to bowl. With the exception of six games, all matches in the Super 12 stage were won by teams batting second.

In both semi-finals, the sides batting second (New Zealand and Australia) finished their respective run-chases with an over to spare. As such, there have been debates over alternatives to the coin-toss and other different ways to nullify the ‘dew factor’, which has a clear advantage for the sides chasing a target – specifically in night games.

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra, on his official YouTube channel, mentioned suggestions made by fellow cricket commentators as well as Indian player Abhinav Mukund on negating the dew advantage, thus providing a fairer playing field for both sides.

“I was talking to a friend earlier this morning, who suggested that there should be four innings of 10 overs each, with both teams playing alternatively. This way, both teams will have the dew advantage in the final two innings,” Chopra said, while responding to a query related to the nullification of dew factor.

The former batter then suggested an idea which aimed at replacing the coin-toss. 

"Someone had written on Wisden that there should be an envelope instead of a coin-toss. Both captains will predict the number of balls remaining if they bat second and chase the target. For example, one captain predicts that his team will chase the target with five balls remaining; the other captain predicts they will win with ten balls to spare.

“The captain who predicted 10 (more number of deliveries) will be asked to bat second, and 10 balls will then be deducted from the maximum-available number of deliveries, meaning his team will be asked to chase in 18.2 overs,” said Chopra.

The former Indian cricketer then mentioned a suggestion given by Abhinav Mukund, a current Indian cricketer who plays for Tamil Nadu.

“Abhinav Mukund had suggested that the team who bowls second should be provided with a super-sub,” said Chopra, further adding that the team can make changes in the XI on the basis of its first-innings score.