Warne admits it was difficult trimming the squad

Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne admitted that it was difficult to send players back home in the effort to prune his squad for the DLF Indian Premier League 2009.

The IPL is all set to get underway with its brand of high-octane Twenty20 cricket. The tournament will flag off tomorrow with a lavish opening ceremony, following by the first match of the series between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings at Cape Town in South Africa.

Defending champions from last year’s inaugural event, Rajasthan Royals, are also confident of putting up a good show this year. Despite not having some star performers from last year’s inaugural season, their skipper Shane Warne is confident that his side can make it two IPL victories in a row.

“We face a big challenge to try to retain the title. But why not? We're missing Sohail Tanvir and Shane Watson, who were really good players for us last time,” wrote Warne in his column in The Times.

“Shane Harwood and Morne Morkel will probably compete for the bowling place and it looks like a choice between Dimitri Mascarenhas and Tyron Henderson to be the all-rounder.”

Warne also said that there are some Indian players from his squad who are going to make a big impression this year. Last year Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja performed well for the winning franchise and have since gone on to make their debuts for India.

However, despite the high aspirations and beliefs he has set for his team, Warne rues the instance where he had to take a tough decision by cutting down some players from his squad and telling them to return back to their country.

One such player, who was asked to leave South Africa, was former India middle-order batsman Mohammad Kaif who was purchased for USD 650,000 last year.

“One of the most difficult tasks has been to prune our squad from 27 to 18 players. That really was a horrible job and some of the guys were pretty emotional when I broke the bad news.”

He added, “You have to be straight and I told those who didn't make the cut that they could still have good careers.”

Warne said that the reactions of these players have reminded him of how the IPL has grown into such a big league in a matter of only one year.
Rajasthan Royals play their first match of the tournament against Bangalore Royal Challengers tomorrow.