Bigger boundaries will make contest even: Warne

Warne said the bigger boundaries would also provide more scope for tactical and strategical moves."In Twenty20 it is all about batsmen hitting the ball over the ropes. The bigger boundaries make it an even contest like we had in Nagpur where we won a tight match. On any other smaller ground many of the shots could have gone out of the stadium but there boundaries were bigger so the batsmen holed out," he said on the eve of his side's IPL match against Mumbai Indians here tomorrow.

"In fact, the bigger boundaries also provide scope for tactical play and strategic moves for a captain. The bowling changes, the field positions, all come into play," he added.
Warne was also happy with the underdogs tag of Rajasthan Royals against Mumbai Indians who are leading the IPL table with 14 points from 10 matches.

"We may be tagged as underdogs because Mumbai Indians are the leaders. But we have prepared well and the fact remains that they have lost two matches. They have proved to be poor travellers having lost their away matches. That gives us even chance. But they are a good side and we will have to play good cricket," said the legendary leg-spinner
"We have been playing good cricket. We lost to Mumbai in the first match when we chased well and needed 19 out of 12 balls. I think we should have won that match. We have no stars. All eleven players are stars for us and we put in collective effort. That is our biggest strength," he said.

Warne dismissed the notion that spinners are more effective as wickets go dry and ball keeps low due to heat."In this form of cricket, batsmen are always looking to hit the ball no matter where you bowl and in the process the bowlers can get the wickets. The match situation also has to play a role," he said.

Asked if he thought life begins at 40, Warne, who is 40 years old, laughed and said he did not believed so."My life fortunately has been good so far. It took me few games to settle down but I think I have been bowling well. I have been enjoying captaincy and was fortunate to have boys who backed me up," he said.

Englishman Michael Lumb thanked Warne for backing him."I have found a place in England team for the Twenty20 World Cup. I owe it to Warne and want to thank him. It is he who had given confidence on me. He just asks to go and play my natural game. Now I will play with confidence in West Indies or anywhere else because in IPL I had faced good bowlers and scored off them."