Preview: Mumbai vs Rajasthan, Match 34

Shane Warne will need something special from his troops to stop a strong Mumbai.

With Mumbai establishing an early superiority in IPL-4, all teams go up against them as underdogs. Mumbai had done the same thing in the league stages of IPL-3, but this time they have an even stronger team, with no glaring chinks at all. Thus every match against them is a chance for the opponent to up their confidence a fair bit if they can get to victory and that is exactly what Rajasthan will be aiming at.

Mumbai Indians:

Their only weak link - if it can be called such - is the question of what would happen to the rest of the attack if Malinga has a bad off-day. It is not much of a weak link, since in their 5 victories so far, Mumbai have seen Harbhajan Singh and Munaf Patel be man-of-the-match once each for their bowling skills. The batting is packed with match-winners from the top-down with Sachin Tendulkar once again leading the run-charts. Ambati Rayudu has only grown, while Rohit Sharma and Andrew Symonds have shown that in the rare event of a top-order failure, they can do the job pretty well themselves too. And then there is Kieron Pollard lurking at Number 6 - yet to have a proper hit, yet to score a run in fact and still amongst the most dangerous men to have at that spot in the order.

Mumbai have gone back to Davey Jacobs as their fourth foreign player and he has done a pretty good job of taking the bowlers on in the initial overs and allowing Tendulkar just that bit of extra time to settle and anchor and the innings. They have talented players such as T Suman and Clint McKay on the bench, but on the principle of 'don't fix it if it ain't broke', no place has been found in the playing eleven for them so far.

Rajasthan Royals:

Rajasthan are currently in the top half of the points table with 7 points, but they haven't looked convincing always. Unlike Mumbai, Rajasthan depend heavily on 2-3 players to deliver superstar performances and rely on efficient team-work from the rest to pull through. Those players are Shane Watson, Ross Taylor and Shane Warne. Of the three, Taylor has had a pretty average outing so far, while Watson has had some good contributions but is yet to hit his straps. Warne has been outstanding though and apart from one match in which he got caned, he still looks like he could walk into any international eleven with the turn, the fizz and the bag of tricks intact.

Rajasthan will need solid contributions from Rahul Dravid and Johan Botha - their other established stars - alongwith stand-out performances from one of the first three to challenge Mumbai. The fact that they are playing on home turf could help, but more than the home advantage they need their players to do well.

Evergreen Contest:

Sachin Tendulkar versus Shane Warne has been one of THE contests of the past decade and a half, and both have had their moments against the other. Will Tendulkar dance down the track and deposit Warne into the stands? Or will Warne spin one viciously across Tendulkar and grab the edge? One only hopes that Tendulkar is there at the crease when Warne comes on to bowl to see the old masters at it once again.

First to give chance to youngsters: Mohsin

Misbah ul Haq and Wahab Riaz celebrate after Pakistan won the ODI series against West Indies.

Former Pakistan batsman Mohsin Khan has credited himself as being the first national selection committee chief to really give opportunities to new players and build a new look national side.

Mohsin said that in the past selectors had claimed about blooding new players but given few chances to youngsters.

"I think the present selection committee is the first one to properly work on a plan to blood new players and build a new team," Mohsin said.

"We have already taken this bold step of resting some senior players and sending some new players to the West Indies with the consultation of the captain and coach," he said.

The former Test opener said while he was satisfied with the progress shown by some new players, the batsmen, in particular, needed to learn to build innings.

"I have played Test cricket and I know that if one wants to play cricket for a long time, 30s and 40s are not enough to keep you going. These new players need to learn to convert good starts into big scores," he said.

"They need to look at the greats we have produced like Javed Miandad, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf and see how they built their innings and went for big scores," he said.

Mohsin also denied suggestions that he was a yes-man to the Pakistan Cricket Board.

"Pakistan is not the only country that has system of having paid selectors. That does not mean we don't take decisions on merit. Our system is such that all teams need to be approved by the Chairman of the board and we follow that procedure," he stated.

Mohsin said he himself had struggled hard to become a Pakistan player and he as chief selector would never ignore merit.

"Look, unintentionally mistakes can be made by us as well, but we have always tried to reward the good performers," said Mohsin.

He also denied that he as chief selector was afraid to face the media and that was why preferred to announce teams through press releases.

"That is a policy decision of the board that teams will be announced through press releases. I have no issues facing the media and announcing the teams before them or taking questions from them," he said.

Mohsin said the present selection committee was working on a long term plan to build strong national T20, one-day and Test squads.

"It will take some time but we are slowly getting there and that is why we are introducing new players in every series."

Pune, Kochi short payment to be discussed at BCCI meet

The Cricket Board's all-powerful Working Committee will discuss the shortfall in the annual payment made by two new Indian Premier League franchises Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Pune Warriors, in its meeting on Wednesday.

The two franchises have paid only 75 per cent of the bid amount due to the BCCI and withheld the remaining 25 per cent as they feel the Board has not fulfilled the clauses in the Invitation to Tender in total with regard to the number of matches this season, according to sources.

As per the clause, each team was to play 18 matches on a home and away basis, but the BCCI reduced the number to 14 per franchise and brought down the total number of matches from 94 to 74, including four in the play-off stage, to avoid player burn-out.

Pune and Kochi franchises were bought from BCCI with successful bids of USD 370 million (Rs 1800 crore) and USD 333 million (Rs 1500 crore) respectively and each year 10 per cent of the amount was to be paid to the BCCI by them.

"They have written to us on the matter and it would be taken up at the Working Committee," said BCCI chief Shashank Manohar.

Apart from this issue, the organisation of the World Cup held jointly by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, would also come up for discussion, as per indications.

Manohar said a few days ago that the appointment of a new coach for the Indian team to replace successful coach Gary Kirsten, who quit the post after the country's triumphant run in the World Cup, would not be discussed at the meeting as there was enough time before the squad's tour to the West Indies in June.

Dhoni played innings of his life in WC final: Yuvi

Flamboyant all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, who was named World Cup's man-of-the-tournament, on Tuesday complimented Mahendra Singh Dhoni for his match-winning knock of 91 not out in the final of the mega event, terming it as the Indian skipper's best-ever innings.

"It was a dream come true. As M.S. (Dhoni) said (earlier) I did not know what to do. I wanted to jump on M.S. and keep jumping on him. He had just played the innings of his life," the flamboyant batsman said about the Indian skipper's masterly innings, in the latter's presence.

The Ranchi-born wicketkeeper-batsman had promoted himself to number 5 above in-form Yuvraj and simply took away the game from Sri Lanka by slamming two sixes and eight fours in his 79-ball masterpiece at the Wankhede Stadium.

Dhoni, only the second captain after Kapil Dev to lead India to the game's showpiece trophy, put on 109 runs for the fourth wicket with Gautam Gambhir (97) and an unfinished 5th stand of 46 with Yuvraj, who remained unbeaten on 21.

"It was the highlight of my career. To win the World Cup after 28 years, was very special. Can't explain the feelings," said Yuvraj who scored 362 runs in 9 matches averaging 90-plus and also grabbed 15 wickets with his left arm slow bowling.

Dhoni, for his part, conceded he had gone blank after hitting the winning shot, a six.

"I was quite blank at that point of time. I didn't know how to celebrate. Then I saw Yuvraj's 6-foot, 2-inch (frame) coming towards me. I thought, he's not going anywhere; let me get to the stumps (souvenirs) first," said Dhoni at the event organised by Reebok to felicitate the triumphant team members.

Yuvraj said he worked hard to make a memorable comeback into the Indian squad after being dropped from both the Test and ODI teams last year.

"Last year was not a great one. I suffered a lot of injuries, but I received a lot of support from my teammates and people close to me. I kept on working hard and performed at the right time," he said.

Dhoni also talked about the importance of fielding and fitness. "Of course we have to put in a 100 per cent effort (to keep fit). Fielding is an integral part. Twenty overs (games) are said to be demanding but in 50 overs (games) you have to maintain intensity throughout," he said.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh said for him the team always came first. "Whenever there is a time to celebrate I celebrate. That's the way I have always been. I am there always for the team, the team comes first," he said.

Leg spinner Piyush Chawla and big-hitting all-rounder Yusuf Pathan also shared their memorable World Cup moments.

"I felt very good to take the World Cup in my hand. We played well," said Pathan.

"I don't have words to describe those feelings. It was a dream come true for me. For me it was a special feeling as it was my first home series. That (triumph) is something I will cherish all my life," he said.