Warne could not resist playing Tendulkar: Barry

Durban (PTI): He was almost ruled out of rest of the IPL owing to his hamstring injury but Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne made a surprise appearance against Mumbai Indians as he did not want to miss possibly his only chance to play Sachin Tendulkar in the Indian Premier League here.

The previous match between the two teams was washed out by rains so with Tendulkar again on the opposite side yesterday there "no way to stop" Warne, who had his leg strapped up, says Rajasthan Royals Director of Coaching Darren Barry.

"We, Jermy (Snape), the physio, and I gave Shane every warning against playing today. You would have needed a semi trial to stop Shane from playing against the Mumbai Indians.With Sachin Tendulkar in their team, there was no way to stop him," Barry said.

"His leg was strapped up but he said he was playing. And when he says he is playing, it doesn't matter what we are saying," he was quoted as saying by the official IPL Website.

Acknowledging man-of-the-match Warne's role in the win, Barry also showered lavish praise on all his boys for their collective effort to pull off the win in the nerve-wrecking encounter.

"I think without a doubt all the players look up to him (Warne). He is one of the greats of all time. He enjoys an enormous amount of respect among our group. But, to be honest, it was actually a collective effort from all our players. He is a wonderful captain. Tactically, very good. The guys believe in him and that is important," Barry said.

On playing so many close matches, Barry said "Rajasthan Royals have played quite a few of those in the last couple of years. Last year we had two on the last ball and one on the penultimate ball against Deccan Chargers.

"Tonight (Thursday) I think, the most pleasing aspect from our point of view is that we came out on a winning side.It was also a great game of cricket. Both the sides really had a crack at it and it was fantastic. Warne vs Tendulkar – it doesn't get better than this," he added.

Barry also lauded the efforts of Munaf Patel and Rob Quiney in Jaipur winning the crucial match.

"Rob Quiney innings at the top was important. To come back into the team and get a half-century at the top was good.

"Full credit to Munaf Patel. The last over and four runs to defend with seven wickets down and he pulled it off. I think three wickets fell for just one run. It was all happening towards the end. When it came to the last over I am sure that most of the people would have had their money on Mumbai Indians. Munaf and Rajasthan Royals pulled off a great victory," he said.

Injured Warne likely to miss Mumbai game

Shane Warne,the captain of Rajasthan Royals, is likely to miss his team's next match, against Mumbai Indians on Thursday, due a hamstring injury he suffered during Monday's game against Deccan Chargers.

Darren Berry, the Rajasthan coach, confirmed the injury but wasn't sure how many games Warne would miss. "He slightly stretched his hamstring in the field yesterday and we are waiting for the diagnosis today," he told Cricinfo. "It is only minor. At this stage we think he may miss one match but we are hoping that's the only game he misses. That's still to be determined and when the physio treats him today we'll have a better indication.

"If he has miraculous treatment in the next three days we will have him for the Mumbai Indians game but we don't know that yet."

A statement from the team management on Tuesday said Warne was currently working with the team doctor and more information would be available in the next 24 hours.

Graeme Smith, who is the senior-most player in the side after Warne and has led South Africa for six years, is likely to replace him as captain. "The logical choice is Graeme Smith, given that he is an international captain," Berry said.

Warne has been Rajasthan's leading wicket-taker with 11 from 10 matches at 26.27. The team is currently placed fourth on the points table, having played one more game than their nearest rivals, Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians, who play each other today.

Looking ahead to the rest of the tournament, Berry said the batsmen would have to step up if the team is to repeat the success from last season. "The main concern is we haven't been able to find consistent form with the bat," Berry said. "Our batting has very been spasmodic apart from Smith and [Naman] Ojha's fantastic 100-run partnership which set up the win against Punjab."

"We may have to win three out of three depending on how the other results go. It is in our hands now. One thing I've recognised about this team is that we have done well in pressure matches. We can't have another game like last night's performance against Deccan Chargers. The boys were all disappointed, so we made a commitment after the game that we will focus on game by game again. We are back in Durban where we did well in our last game there. Jeremy Snape, the team psychologist, and myself are working with the boys to get their confidence back and lead them towards the semi-finals."

Berry admitted that the team had been considerably weakened by the absence of Shane Watson, who has a groin injury and has been asked to rest by Cricket Australia before the World Twenty20, and Sohail Tanvir. "We had made our plans involving Watson so it was a significant blow to those plans and team make-up. I wasn't surprised by Cricket Australia's decision as I didn't think for one minute they were going to let him come with the groin injury with the Twenty20 World Cup coming up it. But without him and Sohail Tanvir, the bowler of the IPL last year, we have actually done really well to be still there in the competition even if we have been inconsistent."

The team's problems have been further compounded by the loss of two of their fast bowlers - Kamran Khan and Amit Singh - because of suspect actions. "Actually, Kamran hurt his knee, which has put him out for six weeks," Berry said. "Yes, his action was questioned and we are seeking some assistance on the matter. He was not reported. The technical committee wanted to have a close look at his action.

"With Amit Singh it has been identified that his slower ball is under question. A professional biomechanist and former South African bowling coach Vincent Barnes are working on Amit."

Royals regain top spot

The Rajasthan Royals went back to the top of the Indian Premier League table with a comfortable seven wicket win over the Royal Challengers Bangalore in Centurion on Thursday.

The Royals stunned the Challengers with a clinical bowling performance on a SuperSport Park pitch which offered some assistance to the seam bowlers initially.

Shane Warne's decision after winning the toss was an easy one and he duly asked the Challengers to bat first, and they were in trouble following the dismissals of Wasim Jaffer, Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid in the first six overs.

The loss of Kallis and Dravid was especially crucial for the Challengers given their experience of conditions, and both fell in unfortunate circumstances. Dravid failed to score before edging a sharp lifter down the leg side which Royals wicketkeeper Naman Ojah did well to hold on to.
Kallis went in the next over, lifting Munaf Patel to Niraj Patel on the square leg boundary. Niraj let the ball slip between his fingers, but luckily it bounced off his knee and he reacted quickly enough to snaffle it before it touched the grass.

The innings, which needed a substantial partnership, never got one. The highest was 20, which is indicative of a batting effort that lacked momentum.

"Even in 20-over cricket you need partnerships and we didn't get any today," said Challengers captain Anil Kumble.

The Challengers were bowled out for 105 off the last ball of the innings. Amit Singh, who Kumble said he had only seen bowl on video, ended with 4/19 in an exhilarating spell of medium-fast bowling, while left-arm spinner Ravendra Jadeja claimed 3/15 in four overs.

The Royals had very little trouble chasing down the score. Graeme Smith made a quick 20 and when he got out, cleaned bowled by national teammate Kallis, there was a flash of hope for the Challengers.

'I'm really happy with the way we bowled'
They increased their self-belief when Ojah and Lee Carseldine got into such a mix-up that both ended up at the same end, and the TV umpire took five minutes and watched numerous replays before declaring Carseldine out.

Any hopes for the Challengers were snuffed out by a rapid partnership of 43 for the third wicket between Ojah and Yusuf Pathan that propelled the Royals to victory with five overs to spare, providing a boost to their run-rate, which is the worst among the teams in the top four on the table.

Ojah made up for his part in running Carseldine out by making an unbeaten 52 off 38 balls, including three fours and three sixes.

"I'm really happy with the way we bowled. We executed our plans really well, all-round it was a solid performance by the boys and it would be nice to carry the momentum from this win into the remaining part of the tournament," said Royals captain Warne.

Spin is the new mantra for Twenty20

The emergence of spin as a match-turner in this IPL has surprised some of the best spinners in world cricket today but South African experts have seen it coming and say that spin will play a major role in Twenty20 cricket, and not just the Indian league.

Consider this: 30 wickets have fallen to spin in 10 games so far, with Anil Kumble, Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, and Daniel Vettori all turning in impressive performances. Even a part-timer like Kevin Pietersen has taken three wickets with his offspin.

Harbhajan Singh and Murali have already revised their opinion about the role of spinners in the IPL, and Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach, says their success has only strengthened his belief that slow bowlers will be influential in Twenty20 cricket. It is a view shared by Pat Symcox, the former South Africa offspinner, who says the weather conditions this time of the year will assist spinners.

"I think spin plays a major role in Twenty20 cricket, and not just the IPL," Arthur told Cricinfo. "Looking at the World Twenty20 in June, we have already decided to cover all our options in pace and spin in our blueprint. It's obvious to us now that it's a good bowling unit that wins you a Twenty20 game, and not just the batsmen. You need to have a bowling unit that has the ability to take wickets and that is what will finally determine the result of a Twenty20 game."

Symcox says the pitch and weather conditions in South Africa will be a deciding factor in the tournament. "It's basically got to do with this time of the year in South Africa with the winter setting in," Symcox told Cricinfo. "The pitches start to wear a bit and the grass becomes a lot drier. There is much better grip for the spinners. Besides, there is always a little bit of extra bounce in South Africa, when compared to India where the IPL was held last year. Add that bounce to a little bit of turn and spinners become a very useful option."

Kumble has grabbed six wickets so far, followed by Vettori with five, Warne with four, and Murali and Ojha with three each. In fact, Kumble, who retired from international cricket last year, turned in the most economical five-wicket haul in Twenty20s against Rajasthan Royals last weekend, claiming incredible figures of 3.1-1-5-5. All these spinners have played crucial roles for their IPL teams, claiming the scalps of some of the best in the business like Pietersen, Matthew Hayden, MS Dhoni, Chris Gayle and Adam Gilchrist.

"We realised this during the recent one-day series here against Australia, and that's why we worked our bowling strategy around Paul Harris and Roelof van der Merwe (both left-arm spinners)," Arthur said. "The result was there for all to see." South Africa won the one-dayers 3-2 at home earlier this month.

Harbhajan, who turned Mumbai Indians' opening game against Chennai Super Kings with a spell of 3-0-15-1 including the key wicket of Hayden, says the role of spinners in Twenty20 has taken "a 360 degree turn". Harbhajan is sure that the spin will play a "pivotal role in this new 'avatar' of cricket". He points to Kumble's five-wicket spell on the opening day and writes in his blog: "The five-wicket haul, shelling out just five runs for exchange, is no joke in any format, forget about T20."

Murali, who watched Harbhajan bowl from the Chennai dugout, wrote in his blog that the Indian offspinner's spell "was the first sign that spin could be a factor in the tournament". "The fact that we are playing on tired squares at the end of the season may also be having an impact," Murali wrote. "Whatever the reason, as a spinner, I am obviously delighted."

Symcox says the trend is "fantastic" not just for this IPL but for the Twenty20 format. "Youngsters will now be encouraged to bowl the slower ones," he said. "They will realise that Twenty20 cricket is not just about running in hard. Now I feel sorry for the medium-pacer in Twenty20 cricket, guys who bowl around the 120-kmph mark. The faster guys always have a chance and now the spinners are also doing well, it's the medium-pacer who has to adapt now."

Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals IPL

The defending champions have made a disastrous start. But that's what they did last year too, and that was the only straw Shane Warne clutched after Rajasthan Royals' humbling defeat to Bangalore Royal Challengers on Saturday.

Mumbai, last year's middle-rankers, had a dream start - and Sanath Jayasuriya didn't even fire for them - and head into this game as hands-down favourites. They have a dream opening combination in Sachin Tendulkar and Jayasuriya, the form man in JP Duminy and what worked as a perfect fire-and-ice bowling combination in Lasith Malinga and Harbhajan Singh. Not to mention Zaheer Khan and Dwayne Bravo.

Going by big names, Rajasthan should be out of their depth. Right? Wrong. That was the case last year too, and teams will do better than to write off Warne's team just on the basis of one poor performance. Even last year, Rajasthan lulled other teams with a poor performance first up. They had to wait for a long time for another average game.

Both teams will look to improve their batting - their bowlers were mostly spot on and in any case they will be playing on one of the bouncier pitches at Kingsmead. Given the young Rajasthan line-up, Mumbai - with the presence of Jayasuriya, Duminy and Bravo - will always threaten a big lusty innings.

Player form guide
Mumbai: Tendulkar could well have defined a role for himself through his patient fifty in the first game: try to bat for at least 15 overs, and give the big hitters most of the strike. Let the Jayasuriyas, the Bravos hit around Tendulkar. Malinga and Harbhajan look good with the ball, and should pose a test for Rajasthan.

Rajasthan: Warne rolled back the years, with flight, dip, big break, and also the fiery flipper. Ask Virat Kohli and B Akhil. Dimitri Mascarenhas proved to be the surprise element with the ball. With the odd quick delivery out of nowhere, Kamran Khan showed a glimpse or two of what Warne might have seen. It's the batsmen who are the worry - the Asnodkars and the Pathans, who played like kings on flat Indian pitches last year. Graeme Smith will have to run into some pretty good form pretty soon. It should help that Mitchell Johnson is in Dubai. Just get past old nemesis Zaheer Khan and he should be fine.

Watch out for
Warne v Tendulkar: Perhaps the biggest gift from this new format. It happened only once last season because Tendulkar was not fit for their first match. Even though they went at it for just six balls, they did put up a show. Tendulkar tried his trademark paddle first up, tried coming down the track and was pushed by a flatter delivery, and six balls yielded six runs, with no clear winners. Here's hoping for a longer duel this time. Just don't get out, Sach, before Warnie comes on to bowl.

Friendly fire
Smith v Pollock: The incumbent v his predecessor. Too bad Shaun Pollock will only be plotting from outside, and not bowling himself. Maybe they should get him to bowl just for one match.

Team news
Necessity spells only one change for Mumbai: Dhawal Kulkarni in place of Rohan Raje, who went for 15 in his one over. Apart from that, they wouldn't want to fiddle too much with a settled-looking line-up.

Mumbai Indians (probable) 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Sachin Tendulkar (capt.), 3 Shikhar Dhawan, 4 JP Duminy, 5 Dwayne Bravo, 6 Abhishek Nayar, 7 Harbhajan Singh, 8 Zaheer Khan, 9 Pinal Shah (wk), 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Dhawal Kulkarni/Rohan Raje.

Don't expect wholesale changes with Rajasthan, but don't count out an odd rabbit out of Warne's hat either. Warne, Mascarenhas, Smith and Henderson should continue to be the four foreign players. Niraj Patel is the man most likely to be under pressure.

Rajasthan Royals (probable) 1 Graeme Smith, 2 Swapnil Asnodkar, 3 Niraj Patel/anybody, 4 Tyron Henderson, 5 Ysuf Pathan, 6 Dimitri Mascarenhas, 7 Ravindra jadeja, 8 Shane Warne (capt.), 9 Mahesh Rawat (wk), 10 Munaf Patel, 11 Kamran Khan.

Head-to-head record
Mumbai gave Rajasthan one of their rare hidings last year when they first met, bowling the eventual champions out for 103. Rajasthan set things right in the return game, though, with a thrilling last-ball win. Before Niraj and Jadeja bailed Rajasthan out, they were 77 for 5, chasing 146. Maybe reason enough to give Niraj another game.

We were 'saddled' with Warne during IPL: Team Jaipur

New Delhi: Shane Warne's midas touch to minnows Rajasthan Royals in the inaugural IPL season may be a part of cricketing folklore but a new book reveals that the Australian spin legend was not the original choice for captaincy.

In their book 'IPL - an inside story', Alam Srinivas and T R Vivek say Jaipur owner Manoj Badale was "saddled with Warne" by chance in the first players' auction.

"In fact, Warne was never the over-riding original choice for the captaincy of the Jaipur team. Badale made it clear during an exclusive e-mail interview with us. 'Warne's views

could only be factored in after the first (players') auction and it is clear given the choice of Graeme Smith, that we did not build a team around Warne. But rather we picked a team based on individual roles and records".

The book gave an eyewitness version, by a franchise CEO, of the first auction where Jaipur just happened to buy Warne because no one else was buying him and the auction appeared to be in disaster.

"Warne's was the first name that came up as the 78 players' names were picked up. But no one was willing to pick him up at the reserve price. The auction was headed for disaster within the first few minutes.

"Since (Lalit) Modi has some interest in the Jaipur team he made an eye contact with Badale and Co. and nudged them to start bidding. Jaipur raised the placard... hoping other teams would jump into the fray... But no other team bid for Warne. Jaipur, it seemed, was saddle with Warne."

The authors also wrote that the legendary spinner was "not a strategist" but someone who can just goad people to give 100 per cent on the field.

They said Warne was an "insecure" person who feels "compelled to be liked by others" and is greedy for praise.

"...It is his ability to earn respect and love of his teammates. Warne can goad people to give 100 per cent on the field," the authors wrote.

"Excuse me, you would say, but isn't that what captaincy is all about? Isn't that how Ganguly and Ponting became great captains?... please read our words carefully. We never said that Warne is not a good leader. All we said was that he is not a strategist," they argued.

"Even his trait to extract the best out of his players, to make them die rather than fail only proves it," they added.

The book also attempted to justify their point with Warne's coach Terry Jenner's view on the bowler's behaviour. "He (Jenner) could see something else too, behind the bravado, that many people missed, and this was the insecurity that is so obvious in Warne today. He desperately wanted people to like him, to praise him, to say how good he was," the book quoted from Paul Barry's biography on Warne.

"Warne will only listen to people that he thinks can help him go somewhere. He shies away from control, authority or demands for rational behaviour. In its extreme form this syndrome is a mental illness called narcissistic personality disorder; Warne appears to be suffering from milder version," the book added from Warne's biography.

The authors observed: "Therefore, throughout the IPL, one witnessed this twin emotions in Warne's captaincy. He went out of his way to be loved by his teammates and rejected anything that did not fit his scheme of things."

Smith happy under Warne`s shadow

Graeme Smith may have led South Africa to the pinnacle in the limited overs cricket but he is still comfortable with Shane Warne in the forefront of the Rajasthan Royals team in the Indian Premier League.

"I`m happy to be in the background," he said about Warne hogging all the glory in the Twenty20 tournament.

"When I came home, the reception I got . . . that was something special. I`ve had to come to terms with the fact that with me, there`s no balanced view. People either love me or hate me," he said.

Rajasthan Royals captain and coach Warne, who shared a love-hate relationship with the South African crowd during his playing days, also looking to woo fans with the help of Smith.

"The public have booed me most of the time but, hopefully, playing with the Rajasthan Royals they`ll get behind me," Warne was quoted as saying.

"Hopefully, when I come on to bowl I`ll get a clap, or a cheer or whistle. They`re pretty vocal over here. They love their cricket. Having Graeme Smith and Morne Morkel in the side will help," he added.