Bollinger was the difference: Warne

Chennai: Rajasthan Royals skipper Shane Warne was proud of the effort, but disappointed with the result when he spoke to the media after a high-scoring game. Here's more from his interaction with the media.

Excerpts:
On putting up a spirited chase yet losing: Yeah look we thought at the toss that it was a flat wicket and small boundaries and obviously we thought if we keep it to around 170, then it was going to be well below par. For about two overs the way the ball was playing we thought if we could keep them around 200-210, then we are right in the game. Unfortunately our fielding [was not up to the mark]. We dropped Albie Morkel a couple of times, just a couple of crucial catches and comes out that our ground fielding is sloppy and bowling at the end. [We’ve lost] two games in a row, that’s now something that we need to address. We haven’t bowled very well at the end. I thought if we had bowled [better, we’d have stood a chance]. [If] we had a better finish, we could have kept them down to 225 and as we saw, we only fell 20-odd short. So it was a great chase from our guys. Special credit to Naman Ojha - he kept [wicket] the whole time in the heat, it was boiling very, very hot. To come out and keep the whole time with a 10-minute turnaround and go and bat the whole innings showed a lot of stamina. I am really proud of the way our guys chased 240. You generally get out for 120-130 going so hard, but our guys [did very well]. We spoke at the break about pacing our innings and targetting particular bowlers so all our plans were good. We are [executing] our plans when we bat [and that’s] pretty good. Our bowling plans […] what are you going to do? The yorker outside off or the slower ball – [our bowlers] are not bowling it. That can happen. We have got a very inexperienced team, sometimes some of our guys just don’t quite do it. At the end of the day we still have five games to go, three games at home. Our next game becomes crucial. You don’t want to get into that situation where you’ve got to win the last four games in a row to get in […] We fly tomorrow and play Deccan on Monday, so that’s a big game.

On whether Murali Vijay’s batting or Doug Bollinger’s bowling made the difference: Oh Vijay played a special innings, I thought he was superb, he really played wonderful. But I think on that wicket, how do you say 220 is par in twenty overs? But given the conditions, tiny boundaries, boiling hot [temperature], absolute flat wicket, I think Bollinger’s four overs were probably the difference in the game. I am not trying to be disrespectful to Vijay, he played a wonderful innings, but I think Bollinger [was the difference]. I am not sure – [I think] he got 2 for18 off 4 overs, everyone else went at tens or more … so I think that was the real difference between winning and losing. Shane Watson’s wicket - we had a big chance there - but I think Bollinger was probably the difference. Well, I think his spell helped win the game. I thought our fielding and dropped catches really cost us the game and it was real credit to Vijay for giving that score.

On Murali Vijay: If you just think about Vijay as a batsman, you would say superb. I think every franchise would like someone like him to come out and bat like that. He is a real credit to Chennai. Probably credit to Stephen Fleming as coach to get the best out of someone like him. He has obviously done a lot of hard work with Vijay and he looks like a level-headed cricketer. He looks like a wonderful, talented player - good luck to him.
On how he feels when batsmen he dominated five ago hit him out of the ground in this format of the game
(Laughs) Yeah look it’s never nice being hit for a six - that’s just the way this game is. Twenty20 cricket wasn’t around five years ago so we are all trying to learn. I think the 12 months in between each IPL are different - everyone plays a lot more domestic twenty20 so the intensity every year is different. For me, look I thought I bowled well again. I could have had Albie Morkel a couple of times cheaply which would have made a big difference. To his credit, he struck the ball well too. But as I said, my bowling [was] pretty good [too]. Murali [M Muralidaran], currently playing [international cricket], I think he went for 55. So that’s just the nature of the game - we are going to get smashed. It doesn’t matter if it’s five years ago, ten years ago, last game, next week – you are going to get smashed. On a wicket like that with tiny boundaries everyone is going to get smashed which was proved tonight. And that’s what I am saying. I think it is unfair to say five years ago I could have him out [...] I think that’s a bit unfair.

On how difficult it is as captain when the opposition thrives and one’s own team struggles: That’s the game, isn’t it? We are playing IPL cricket where the intensity is as high as anywhere in world cricket. Id if your fielding is not up to scratch and your catching is not up to scratch [you are bound to suffer]. I think it was [on] 12 or 14 …Albie Morkel let me off at square-leg, got dropped and then he is allowed to go on ... we dropped a couple more after that. It’s hard to keep that confidence up, and all I was saying to the guys [was] just calm [down], be calm. [Focus] on our plans - where are we trying to bowl it? Let’s set the field to your bowling. Unfortunately, sometimes they can’t execute that, they get [it] a little bit wrong which can happen in this form of the game. It has happened to us twice, that’s something we need to address - our fielding and bowling at the end. All we can keep saying is, come on boys. Just keep trying - it is the next ball that’s important, not the one that’s just gone. You can make a difference in the next ball. So we try that sort of stuff. But at the end of the day you’ve got to give credit to Chennai and as I said, I thought our chase [was impressive] To chase 246 [and fall] only 20 odd short, it’s a hell of a chase. I thought it showed a lot of character and spirit which is still in our group even though we have lost two games in a row.

On Gautam Gambhir’s comment about Rajasthan being an ordinary side: Well I don’t think we are. He [Gambhir] is allowed his opinion and his comments and hopefully they come back to haunt him. But at the moment we have just got to lift our game and all we have to do is worry about ourselves, but hopefully those comments come back to hurt him.

On the high economy rates of the spinners: I think at the moment you can take wickets. If you bowl well you are going to take wickets, you might bowl well for two, three, four games and the results don’t show. Then suddenly you have a couple of good games. That’s the nature of the game. The way wickets are and the way the spinners are bowling, if you look around in these last three or four games, most of the spinners have done pretty well. Everyone is looking for someone to take 3 for 20, that’s just not going to happen - every now and then it might happen. It hasn’t happened too many times in this game. It also depends on where you bowl. If you bowl at the end of an innings when everyone is trying to slog you, you might get whacked a bit but you are going to take wickets. So most of the time, after six overs, the spinners come on and they [with their] change of pace, restrict the scoring. If [the bowler] can take some wickets, they get in and they launch themselves at the end. If you bowl well at the end that’s a difference between getting a par score and a [very] big score.

On Bollinger changing the game: Yeah, as I said before, as much as Vijay played unbelievably well, it was a great knock, beautiful, [he’s a] wonderful striker and [he played] good cricket shots too. I think the difference probably was our fielding and our catching - we dropped a couple of crucial catches at crucial times that wouldn’t have allowed Albie Morkel to keep going on. But [Bollinger’s] spell of four overs, probably if you look at all the bowling figures, everyone went for 10s or plus and he got 2 for 18 off his 4. So for him and Shane Watson to both get off the plane and play in this sort of heat was credit to them.

On how Bollinger managed a spell like that: Well, I think he executed his plan. All teams have got plans, this is how we are going to bowl, this is how we are going to set our field – [but] he executed his plans. [When] he was going to bowl a slower ball, back of a length - they set their field according. [When] he was going to bowl the odd short one, they moved the field back. And he did. We did the same sort of thing, but unfortunately we didn’t do it [as well].

On whether being a left-armer worked in Bollinger’s favour: I just think he is a good bowler and he executed his plans. Every franchise has plans whether it be batting, bowling whatever - everyone has a plan. It’s just how well you execute those plans and I thought today Douggie [Doug Bollinger] executed them beautifully.

On what he told the team during the break: Just a bit of encouragement to the lads. There are a hundred and twenty balls left in the game and it would be nice to create history. The rest I would like to keep it to myself of what I said. But I was really proud of our guys - the way they came out and to chase 240 and to get 20 runs short was a great effort.