Warne played only because of Tendulkar

He was almost ruled out of rest of the IPL owing to his hamstring injury but Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne made a surprise appearance against Mumbai Indians as he did not want to miss possibly his only chance to play Sachin Tendulkar in the Indian Premier League.

The previous match between the two teams was washed out by rains so with Tendulkar again on the opposite side yesterday there "no way to stop" Warne, who had his leg strapped up, says Rajasthan Royals Director of Coaching Darren Berry.

"We, Jermy (Snape), the physio, and I gave Shane every warning against playing today. You would have needed a semi trial to stop Shane from playing against the Mumbai Indians.

"With Sachin Tendulkar in their team, there was no way to stop him," Barry said. "His leg was strapped up but he said he was playing. And when he says he is playing, it doesn't matter what we are saying," he was quoted as saying by the official IPL website.

Acknowledging man-of-the-match Warne's role in the win, Barry also showered lavish praise on all his boys for their collective effort to pull off the win in the nerve-wrecking encounter.

"I think without a doubt all the players look up to him (Warne). He is one of the greats of all time. He enjoys an enormous amount of respect among our group. But, to be honest, it was actually a collective effort from all our players. He is a wonderful captain. Tactically, very good. The guys believe in him and that is important," Barry said.

On playing so many close matches, Barry said "Rajasthan Royals have played quite a few of those in the last couple of years. Last year we had two on the last ball and one on the penultimate ball against Deccan Chargers.

"Tonight I think the most pleasing aspect from our point of view is that we came out on a winning side. It was also a great game of cricket. Both the sides really had a crack at it and it was fantastic.

Warne vs Tendulkar it doesn't get better than this," he added. Barry also lauded the efforts of Munaf Patel and Rob Quiney in Jaipur winning the crucial match.

"Rob Quiney innings at the top was important. To come back into the team and get a half-century at the top was good. "Full credit to Munaf Patel. The last over and four runs to defend with seven wickets down and he pulled it off. I think three wickets fell for just one run.

"It was all happening towards the end. When it came to the last over I am sure that most of the people would have had their money on Mumbai Indians. Munaf and Rajasthan Royals pulled off a great victory," he said.