 I'm proud of performance of Indian youngsters: Warne
2nd Jun 2008 20:00 IST
Agencies
Triumphant captain Shane Warne feels that more than the overseas cricketers, it was the coming of age of Indian youngsters which fetched the Indian Premier League title for Rajasthan Royals.
"The Australian players had more experience but I think it's the performance of the Indian youngsters in our team like Swapnil Asnodkar and Yusuf Pathan which I am very proud of," the leg-spin legend said after guiding the Royals to the IPL title last night.
"Watching Yusuf Pathan and Swapnil Asnodkar coming of age and executing the plans so well has been a real pleasure for all of us. My strength as captain was to get the best out of these players and I'm proud of it," said the retired Australian great.
Baroda's Pathan, who has already been rewarded with a berth in the India ODI team, grabbed three wickets for 22 runs with his tight off breaks to help restrict Super Kings to 163/5.
Later, he guided Royals from a difficult 42/3 to the finish line, making a thunderous 56 in 39 balls which was embellished with four mighty sixes and three fours.
Goa opener Asnodkar had batted with carefree abandon, unafraid of using the aerial route right through the tournament and formed a formidable combination with South African skipper Graeme Smith who, unfortunately, could not play in the final after pulling his hamstring in the semifinal against Delhi Daredevils.
The Royals of Jaipur, owned by the Emerging Media, pipped the Mahendra Singh Dhoni led Chennai Super Kings by three wickets in a thrilling last-ball finish in the title-contest at the packed D Y Patil Stadium last night to pocket the top prize of USD 1.2 million.
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