Warne cements bond with Royals through his tweets

Shane Warne may not be playing in the Indian Premier League this year but the former skipper of the Rajasthan Royals is actively tweeting his support for the side.

A day after Royals lost to Kolkata Knight Riders, the Australian spinner wrote on the micro-blogging site that the batsmen needed to fire for the side to win. "2 of the Royals top 5 batsmen have to perform every game, the Royals bowling have always delivered ! Batsmen make runs = royals victory!"

Even while the match was being played, Warne kept himself updated with the scores and was encouraging the players. "Just heard the score in the IPL, bad luck to all the royals & our fans We are still off to a good start in IPL 5, all will be ok Believe !"

The retired 42-year-old has also been missing India and playing in the IPL. "Dinner time - have a great day / night followers.. Missing you all over there in India & being involved in the IPL," he wrote late on Friday night.

Warne led the Royals to victory in the inaugural edition of the tournament. Co-owner of the team, Shilpa Shetty, was quoted by news agencies recently as saying that someone of Warne's stature will be missed by any team of which he has been a part of. "He is missed but he is in contact with us and keeps wishing the team well. Of course team comes first and is always bigger than individuals," she was quoted as saying by a national daily.

Rahul Dravid is the skipper-mentor for the Royals this season.