McGrath 038; Co work on beating the blues

The kind of form he and his bunch of amateurs are in, nothing seems to be worrying Shane Warne right now.

The kind of form he and his bunch of amateurs are in, nothing seems to be worrying Shane Warne right now. Even the prospect of an IPL semi-final clash against a team that includes former team mate and fast bowling legend Glenn McGrath hasn8217;t ruffled the leg-spinning magician8217;s feathers.

While the Delhi Daredevils decided to head straight to the Wankhede Stadium for a gruelling net session after landing in the city, Warne decided to take a break. Rather than taking the customary look at the pitch, the skipper and his team headed straight to a suburban hotel in Mumbai for a party. All this while McGrath was busy making his Friday duty chart with co-bowlers Mohammad Asif, Farveez Mahroof and Yo Mahesh at the Wankhede Stadium.

Until a year back, Warne and McGrath had virtually made the 22-yard strip in international cricket their own personal fiefdom. As Australia continued to rule world cricket, the duo bullied batsmen into submission. And while statistics hardly do justice to their phenomenal careers, they did end up with a collective haul of more than 1900 international wickets.

Today, as Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils lock horns for a place in the final, the two 8216;best-friends8217; will walk out, for the first time perhaps, in a do-or-die battle against each other.

8220;We8217;ve already played three finals. The last three games were do-or-die situations for us. So, we8217;ve got a fair idea of what to expect,8221; Daredevils8217;s bowling coach Dennis Lillee said, completely ignoring what the opposition, led by Warne, could have in store. Lillee, instead, chose to delve on his own bowlers 8212; especially Yo Mahesh, who has impressed. 8220;He8217;s my pick from the younger lot. He8217;s been very impressive,8221; Lillee said.

Despite the fact that Yo Mahesh has progressed well under the wings of McGrath, accompanied by Asif and Mahroof, Delhi cannot ignore the fact that they8217;ll be up against a team that has been in thundering form. South African skipper Graeme Smith, Baroda8217;s Yusuf Pathan, Goa batsman Swapnil Asnodkar, among others, have been going hammer and tongs this IPL season.

However, Daredevils skipper Virender Sehwag is confident of his team putting up a good show. 8220;Rhythm and form are very important in this kind of format and we have done well in our last two or three matches. Tomorrow, we will just have to carry on from where we left,8221; he said.

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There8217;s further good news for Delhi. Mohammad Asif has been declared fit and will replace Aussie Brett Geeves. Asifand McGrath have enjoyed one of the better economy rates in the tournament as new-ball partners.

Warne, meanwhile, is not letting last night8217;s mauling at the hands of Mohali affect the team. 8220;We wanted to try out a couple of batsmen in different positions. We obviously wanted to win, but most important was to find answers to some questions we were not sure about leading up to the semi-finals, and I am glad we could do that last night,8221; Warne said.

Meanwhile, Graeme Smith has been declared fit for this all-important game and that means whatever little worries Warne may have had are already fading.