Unearthing young Indian talent is the biggest gain of IPL: Warne

Mumbai, May 31 (UNI) Stating that Rajasthan Royals are not too worried about the opposition ahead of the IPL final, captain and coach Shane Warne today said his Team is concentrating on their own game plans and strategies.

Rajasthan Royals will clash in the final of the 44-day event at the D Y Patil stadium tomorrow with the winner of the second semi-final between King's XI Punjab or Chennai Super Kings.

Warne speaking to scribes said, if they play with the same intensity as they have done so far in the tournament then the result will take care of itself.

Speaking about the IPL, Warne said ''the best part of this tournament has been unearthing of young talented Indians, who before did not get a chance to showcase their skills. Players like Swapnil Asnodkar, Ravindra Jadeja, Munaf Patel, they can be future stars for India,'' he said.

On the final tomorrow, Warne said it has been a big loss for us with Graeme Smith being unavailable for the final through injury.

''He is the one along with Asnodkar who gave us a solid start at the top of the innings, which allowed the middle order batsmen like Yusuf Pathan and Shane Watson to come and fire. It is a big loss to us,'' Warne added.

Warne also took a dig at the English cricket establishment, saying that that English Cricket Board has their heads in the sands for not allowing their players to participate in the IPL.

''They (ECB) are looking only at the narrow picture and not at the bigger picture, this IPL is here to stay and the English players would stand to benefit immensely if they are allowed to play. Only Hampshire has the vision to look ahead at the bigger picture and allowed Dimitri Mascerenhas to play in the IPL.'' he lamented.

Warne also felt that at the international level the job of a coach was redundant.

''Yes you need coaches at the junior level and the first class level to impart the basics of the game to the youngsters, but at the international level you do not need to have coaches to give technical inputs to a player, you rather need a man manager, someone you can talk to when you are feeling down,'' he said.

Earlier in the day at another function Shane Warne expressed his desire to be the ''spin bowling mentor'' for young talents in the country.

The spin wizard, who has 708 Test and 293 One Day International wickets in his kitty, praised the young Indian spinners for their performance in the ongoing twenty20 extravaganza.

The leg-spinner, besides his teammate Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja, named Piyush Chawla of Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Daredevils' Amit Mishra as probables for the national squad.

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