 We're not taking our foot off the pedal: Warne
21st May 2008 09:02 IST
Agencies
Exuding loads of confidence after Rajasthan Royals' fifth consecutive victory in the Indian Premier League in Kolkata on Tuesday, captain Shane Warne sent a stern warning to his opponents by emphasising that his team were looking to win the rest of the matches in the tournament.
"We wanted to send a message to the rest of our competitors that we are not taking our foot off the pedal. We hope the Rajasthan Express keeps rolling," the legendary leg-spinner told a media conference soon after his team cantered to a six-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens.
Describing the win over the Kolkata Knight Riders as "fantastic", Warne said, "It's always nice to come up winning. We had a charged up team. It was really fantastic to pull off a win at the Eden.
"The strength of our team is that every member is good enough to contribute and pull off a win," said Warne, who has led the Rajasthan Royals to the top of the group with nine wins in eleven matches.
Warne said a score of 160-165 would have been a good total on the track.
Asked to spell out his team's strategy, Warne said, "(Umar) Gul has been one of the best bowlers in the competition, so we had to plan our batting order accordingly. We knew that (Sourav) Ganguly and (David) Hussey would have to bowl some overs in the middle. That's why we sent Yusuf Pathan down the order.”
Warne also described the first six overs of the Knight Riders' innings when the hosts could only score 32 runs as crucial.
Praising pacer Munaf Patel, the Royals' skipper said the bowler did an excellent job.
"Initially, I had found that Munaf was quite shy. Now he appears to have improved very well. And the way he is bowling, he can walk into the Indian team."
Warne said the Royals might play some of the reserves in the remaining three matches of the league.
Warne also rubbished reports that he was open to the possibility of staging a comeback to Test cricket if Australia needed him for the next Ashes series.
"I am very happily retired. I am looking forward to spending my time with my children and to working for charity," Warne said.
Warne's comments effectively put the lid on speculation that he was mulling a comeback to the longer version of the game.
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