Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne has hit back at Sachin Tendulkar and the Mumbai Indians following their criticism of the Sawai Man Singh stadium pitch.
Tendulkar was unhappy with the Jaipur wicket after the Royals demolished the Indians by seven wickets in a low-scoring affair on Friday. Mumbai were restricted to their lowest-ever IPL total of 94 for eight and the hosts chased it with relative ease.
“It was a two-paced wicket and the ball kept low. The pitch was very different from Mumbai where we had a little more bounce and pace,” Tendulkar said after the game.
The pitch faced stringent tests before Rajasthan’s match against the Pune Warriors on Sunday after Mumbai lodged a formal complaint.
Legendary Australian spinner Warne feels Mumbai should just accept that they were second best.
“It is very unfortunate. Mumbai still is not relishing the fact that they were restricted to 94 for eight and that is why they are searching for excuses. They should admit that they were outplayed if they were outplayed,” Warne is quoted by The Press Trust of India.
“A pitch inspector (member of the pitch committee of BCCI) was here and how the wicket can be termed bad when we reached the target losing three wickets. The ball was coming nicely and it was the same wicket on which Kolkata made 160 odd losing one wicket.
“I think Rajasthan Cricket Association and curator Taposh Chatterjee have been doing a decent job and preparing fine wickets. In fact the wicket was a bit slow but that makes a 20-20 even for both bowlers and batsmen. I am really very disappointed by the complaint.
“I have seen wickets in other matches too which were slow and few balls keeping low. But lodging a complaint is not fair. It makes a fair contest between the bat and the ball.” (Sky Sports)
