Tendulkar's pitch remark piques Warne

Former Australia leg spinner and Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne on Sunday expressed displeasure over Mumbai Indians skipper Sachin Tendulkar's remarks on the pitch at the Sawai Man Singh stadium in Jaipur, which hosted the IPL match between the two sides on Friday.

Tendulkar, after his team's seven-wicket defeat, drubbed the wicket two-paced wicket and in which the ball kept low, but Warne thought otherwise. "It is very unfortunate. Mumbai still is not relishing the fact that they were restricted to 94 for 8 and that is why they are searching for excuses. They should admit that they were outplayed if they were outplayed," Warne said after leading his team to a six-wicket win over Pune Warriors on Sunday.

"A pitch inspector (member of the pitch committee of BCCI) was here and how the wicket can be termed bad when we reached the target losing three wickets. The ball was coming nicely and it was the same wicket on which Kolkata made 160 odd losing one wicket," he said.

"I think Rajasthan Cricket Association and curator Taposh Chatterjee have been doing a decent job and preparing fine wickets. In fact the wicket was a bit slow but that makes a 20-20 even for both bowlers and batsmen. I am really very disappointed by the complaint."

"I have seen wickets in other matches too which were slow and few balls keeping low. But lodging a complaint is not fair. It makes a fair contest between the bat and the ball," the legendary spinner added.

It is learnt that chairman of the Pitch Committee of BCCI, Venkat Sundaram flew to the city to have a chat with RCA officials and the curator following Tendulkar's remarks.

The champion batsman had earlier said that it was a tough pitch and the conditions were difficult. "It was a two-paced wicket and the ball kept low. The pitch was very different from Mumbai where we had a little more bounce and pace," Tendulkar had said.

About Sunday's match, Warne said he was happy that the team got the winning momentum at right juncture. "I think we bowled pretty decently. We had hoped to restrict them to 130-135. While chasing we were pegged back a bit because we lost wickets at crucial juncture. But Ashok Meenaria and Ross Taylor got us through. Young Rahane was a treat to watch - calm and composed," he said.

"I am happy with the way boys have left behind the tough week and three losses on trot," Warne said.

Warriors coach Geoff Marsh, on the other hand, was disappointed with his team's fielding and catching. "We dropped a few at crucial moments and that cost us the match." Marsh said.

Talking about skipper Yuvraj Singh who bowled only one over, he said sometimes captains under bowl. "I don't know why he sent down only one over on a slow wicket like this. Sometimes captains tend to under bowl. But otherwise he is fit. We have lost few close matches and will have to lift ourselves up to bounce back."