PTI
MUMBAI, Jun 3: Triumphant captain Shane Warne feels that more than the overseas cricketers, it was the coming of age of Indian youngsters which fetched the Indian Premier League title for Rajasthan Royals.
"The Australian players had more experience but I think it's the performance of the Indian youngsters in our team like Swapnil Asnodkar and Yusuf Pathan which I am very proud of," the leg-spin legend said after guiding the Royals to the IPL title on Sunday night.
"Watching Yusuf Pathan and Swapnil Asnodkar coming of age and executing the plans so well has been a real pleasure for all of us. My strength as captain was to get the best out of these players and I'm proud of it," said the retired Australian great.
Baroda's Pathan, who has already been rewarded with a berth in the India ODI team, grabbed three wickets for 22 runs with his tight off breaks to help restrict Super Kings to 163 for five.
Later, he guided Royals from a difficult 42 for three to the finish line, making a thunderous 56 in 39 balls which was embellished with four mighty sixes and three fours.
Goa opener Asnodkar had batted with carefree abandon, unafraid of using the aerial route right through the tournament and formed a formidable combination with South African skipper Graeme Smith who, unfortunately, could not play in the final after pulling his hamstring in the semifinal against Delhi Daredevils.
The Royals of Jaipur, owned by the Emerging Media, pipped the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings by three wickets in a thrilling last-ball finish in the title-contest at the packed D Y Patil Stadium on Sunday night to pocket the top prize of USD 1.2 million.
Warne talked of his long and happy journey in the tournament that and said the key was how well players from different cultures and countries glued together to win the ultimate prize.
"It's been a fantastic journey. We have gelled together very very quickly. It's been one hell of a ride and it's great to see the smiles on these guys' faces and to see them learning and executing the plans," he said.
The spin champion said the script would not have been more gripping than Sundau's grand finale.
"I was hoping (Sohail) Tanvir would be on strike all the time. But to win the final at the last ball, I don't think the script writer could have done any better," he said, referring to the tension-packed final moments when the Royals romped home after needing eight off the last over bowled by Laxmipathy Balaji.
Hiding his obvious disappointment with a smiling face, Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni refused to blame the defeat on anyone but rued that the team did not possess more than five bowling options.
"I don't want to pinpoint any particular player (for the defeat). I agree that we made a few mistakes in the field but the main problem was that we had just five bowlers and even if any one of them had a bad day, we had to persist with him," he said.