All plans in place as Big Two clash in Jaipur |
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Sunday May 11, 02:11 AM
testing dirtying
Secrets are no fun if no one knows something's being concealed. And so it goes with Shane Warne, who, sitting pretty with six wins from eight games in the IPL, gives away no more than a teaser on Rajasthan Royals's Sunday plans for rival Virender Sehwag. The Delhi Daredevils captain's partiality for hitting over point and cover is no secret, though, and Warne's plans obviously hover around that.
Dhoni seemingly didn't heed Warne's warnings when Chennai were here - or may be he just wasn't equipped enough. But in declaring his intent to stop Delhi's unrelenting indigenous top-order - Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan - Warne has singularly built up the excitement ahead of what he terms a 'revenge clash' after the Royals were drubbed hollow in their first game playing this opposition.
There are plans for old buddy Glenn McGrath too, and Rajasthan's top-order could be suitably altered to negotiate his accuracy. "He told me he's gone for 29 runs - we'll try and take that up to 30 at least," Warne says, wit firmly in place.
Delhi, not to be left behind, say they have a few tricks up their black-and-red sleeves as well. "We've not tried some of our options, like Dilshan. So we could throw up a few wildcards ourselves," Greg Shipperd informs, adding pointedly that shared recent pasts at Victoria's Melbourne-based Bushrangers, where Royals performance director Darren Berry was Shipperd's assistant, means there are a few insights into each other's working and thinking patterns.
Unbeaten at Sawai Man Singh Stadium, the Royals are enjoying how easily their plans have fallen into place, but the Daredevils haven't done too badly either, save losing the last game in the final moments to Chennai. "Yes, they are unbeaten here. But maybe we could turn the tables," Shipperd says.
Adding to the suspense is Warne's talk of bringing in Dimitri Mascarenhas. The only Englishman in the IPL though is being held back, less as a rabbit to be pulled out from the hat, more owing to a niggling ankle, from which he is expected to recover by Sunday.
Trouble is, in this winning squad brimming with locals performing shoulder-to-shoulder with the imports, the Royals will struggle to draft in the foreigner. Watson is handy with bat and ball, Graeme Smith is key to the top-order and Sohail Tanvir's quirky action can't be ignored. Warne is too precious to this team, and will not risk being unduly generous. Yet, the Mascarenhas threat looms over every game that the Royals enter.
Either way, tomorrow should be fun. Warne's done brainstorming with Berry and psycho-analyst Jeremy Snape. But on Sunday he runs into Sehwag - a shrewd rival whose plans generally seem to revolve around uncomplicated destruction.
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