Our plans, strategies worked, says Warne

Mumbai, May 30 (UNI) We played according to the plans and strategies which we had formulated and therefore came out on top to enter the final, said Shane Warne, the captain of the victorious Rajasthan Royals said tonight.

Warne speaking to press persons after a thumping 105 run victory, said that their best performance was still to come, which we are keeping back for the final, he added.

Warne also said that we had decided to let Shane Watson bowl short and fast and it paid off with we getting early wickets. The wicket also afforded turn which helped me and allowed me to get some purchase.

He also said that it was a good thing that we were playing Delhi here in Mumbai, though I still maintain that we should have played the semifinal in Jaipur, since Mumbai and Delhi have a rivalry of their own which allowed us to get the support of the fans here.

Warne also painted a very rosy picture for Shane Watson, saying that he has the opportunity of becoming the best all rounder in the world if he stays injury free and keeps his mind in proper shape.

Praising the Indian boys, Warne said that players like Munaf Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Swapnil Asnodkar and Yusuf Pathan have all potential to become big stars for India in the future and I was very happy for Yusuf Pathan on him being selected into the India side for the Bangladesh tri-series.

Meanwhile, defeated captain Virender Sehwag blamed the batsmen for the defeat tonight.

Sehwag said chasing such a big target we had decided to go for our shots to keep the run rate down, but they bowled well and as wickets started to fall we just could not recover to put up any fight.

He, however, refused to blame his bowlers, who he though did a good job. "When someone goes after you, it become difficult to pull them back and that is what happened with Smith and Asnodkar getting off to a flying start," Sehwag added.

Sehwag however was not happy with the decision of the umpires to allow a runner for Graeme Smith after he seemed to have pulled a hamstring while taking a quick run. Sehwag said that I told the umpires that Smith was carrying an injury from before, but the umpires said that this has happened on the field therefore he could have a runner, Sehwag sounding dissapointed added.

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