Shane Warne: "Hopefully the South African public will get behind it and turn up to the ground" © Getty Images Enlarge
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Shane Warne, the Australian legspinner, has said it's unfortunate that the IPL had to be moved out of India for the second season because the flavour of the tournament will not be the same. Warne led his franchise, Rajasthan Royals, to the title last year and they will have a chance to defend their title in South Africa next month.

The event was shifted from India as it clashed with the country's general elections and the government couldn't guarantee adequate security for the teams. Rajasthan were the underdogs last year but surprised everybody by losing just three games before the final in Mumbai, which went down to the wire. Their inspiring story has won them a nomination for the team of the year in the 2009 Laureus World Sports Awards.

"To win it on the last ball last year as the underdogs, having been thrashed in our first game, was pretty special in front of 80,000 people," Warne said during a publicity event for the Australian F1 Grand Prix. "It won't be the same as it being in India, but hopefully the South African public will get behind it and turn up to the ground and make it a great spectacle."

Warne said his team would play a few practice games in Cape Town to acclimatise before the tournament begins on April 18. "We've done three months of planning about itineraries and practice matches and all sorts of things," Warne said. "We were all set to go. We started planning for England over the weekend and now we're planning for South Africa as of yesterday."

The Indian players will not be short of support given the number of people of Asian descent living in the country and Warne hoped they would show up in large numbers to recreate the atmosphere. "South Africa loves sport, they're very passionate about their sport," he said. "Hopefully they get some good crowds. But, it'll be nothing like if it was in India, and it's a shame it can't be in India."