Mumbai v Rajasthan, IPL 2011, Mumbai May 19, 2011

Warne v Tendulkar one last time

The Preview by Siddarth Ravindran

Match facts


Friday, May 20, Mumbai Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)

Shane Warne's final hurrah coming up © AFP

Big Picture


Four years ago, Shane Warne's glittering international career came to an end after he helped Australia whip England 5-0 to regain the Ashes, and he contentedly signed off noting that his team owned every major trophy on offer. The finale of his IPL career has been diametrically opposite, with his inconsistent side, Rajasthan Royals, eliminated early and Warne himself has been in the news over the past week for off-field altercations rather than on-field wizardry.

There have been glimpses of the old bewitching loop and cricketing nous but that hasn't been enough to inspire his team to reach the play-offs. Rajasthan have little at stake in Friday's match against Mumbai Indians and the highlight for cricket aficionados will be the last chance to see the celebrated Warne v Tendulkar rivalry.

Mumbai have been off the boil in the past couple of matches and have lost their seemingly nailed-on spot at the top of the table, slipping down to third. There is still an outside chance that Mumbai may not make the play-offs, a possibility they will look to eliminate on Friday.

Form guide (most recent first)


Mumbai Indians LLWWW (fourth in points table)
Rajasthan Royals LLLLW (seventh in points table)

Team talk


The bowling hasn't been much of a worry for Mumbai, and it is the batting packed with headliners that has struggled over the past week. It's likely they will re-jig the order instead of making too many personnel changes.

With Rajasthan out of the tournament, it is hard to predict what strategy they will follow. In their previous game, they made an unprecedented six changes, leaving out usual starters Ross Taylor and Johan Botha.

Predict the playing XIs for this match. Play ESPNcricinfo Team Selector.

In the spotlight


Andrew Symonds has had a poor IPL so far, and one of the reasons he remains in the XI is the lack of proven overseas alternatives in the Mumbai squad. His combination of talent and temperament is exactly the spark Mumbai need to right their recent failures.

Prime numbers


  • Shane Warne has the unwanted record of most ducks in the IPL - seven
  • Sachin Tendulkar has nearly a 1000 IPL runs more than any other Mumbai batsman, batting for Mumbai - a majority of Rohit Sharma and Andrew Symonds' IPL runs have come for Deccan Chargers

    The chatter


    "We didn't play well. We didn't bat well. We played way below our potential. We are quite aware of that. It's quite an important game for us and we need to win it."
    Robin Singh, the Mumbai Indians coach, sums it up

    Siddarth Ravindran is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

    © ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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