Constant shifting of venues has not helped teams: Warne

THE up and down nature of the 2009 edition of the Indian Premier League will continue for at least another week as the teams head for the highveld of South Africa.

Up to this stage, most of the games have been played along the coast where the pitches have been full of pace, bounce and swing.

But as the teams travel to the Wanderers in Johannesburg and to SuperSport Park in Pretoria, there could be changes on the league table.

That's the view of legendary Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne, who led the Rajasthan Royals to victory in the inaugural IPL, which was staged in India last year.

"That's the main reason for the position on the table changing so often in the opening weeks of the competition. The teams are still unsettled and I believe it will take another week of so for at least one, if not two teams, to pull away from the rest of the pack and make certain of the semi-final places," he said.

"Then there will be a fight for the second two places u2014 that could really turn the heat on this competition."

He cited the rise of the Chennai Super Kings to the No 1 spot after a poor start in this year's competition. The Super Kings lost their opening game of the 2009 edition to the Mumbai Indians.

Four games later, they were still battling to find some consistency but they have come good after a three-match winning run to occupy the No 1 spot on the table.

"They (Chennai) have the look of being one of the major forces in this year's competition and if there is a team who could open up a gap at the top of the table it would, in my opinion, be Chennai," Warne said.

Warne said that the nature of the pitches in South Africa has restricted teams from opening up an advantage at the top of the table.

"In India there was little or no bounce and the batsmen were able to play their shots that they have become accustomed to over the years," he said.

"But here in South Africa, the situation is different. The bounce, pace and swing make batsmen think before indulging in big hitting.u00a0 This fact has caused a lot of batsmen to play as cautiously as possible. Hence, you have seen some low scoring games."

The fact that spinners have played a key role in most of the matches put a smile on Warne's face, who has taken seven wickets in the event so far. Pragyan Ojha and Anil Kumble lead the way with 10 wickets each.

"It's the end of the summer here in South Africa and the wickets have been well worn during the domestic season. That's why you get wickets that help the spinners. To me, this is a delight as spinners do need to play a part in this form of the game."