There's one IPL innovation Proteas' Dwaine Pretorius would love to see at the highest level

Dwaine Pretorius might've ticked off a proverbial bucket list item by appearing for the Chennai Super Kings in this year's Indian Premier League (IPL), but he's quite frank in stating that he didn't necessarily gain any revolutionary new insights that he can use himself at international T20 level.

However, there's one innovation from the annual tournament that the Proteas all-rounder would've enjoyed being used in the upcoming five-match series against India starting in Delhi on Thursday: the strategic timeout.

Since the IPL's inception in 2008, the mandatory break in play - two 3-minute intervals in each innings - has evolved from a gimmicky measure for extra advertising revenue to a vital opportunity for teams to re-assess their plans or even come up with new approaches.

And for a known cricket-thinker like Pretorius, it's something that's right up his alley.

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"I enjoy it quite a bit. I know it makes the game a bit longer, but it just splits the game into three parts - the one before, the one in the middle and the one after," he said.

"It gives each team a moment to assess their strategy and what's the best way to go forward.

"And it's about getting the coach - that will always have an objective view from the outside's opinion as well. It makes the game a bit more liquid, and it breaks up momentum." 

More importantly, especially for the more casual fan who simply enjoys a player taking a game by the scruff of the neck, the timeout is an ideal precursor to just explode, either with bat or ball.

"Even if you might be out of it for the first few overs, you can always come back into the game after the strategic time out. It just breaks the momentum