General / Ed Hawkins / 17 April 2009 /

Last year's winners based their whole philosophy on teamwork, each individual carrying out a specific role and the inspirational leadership of Shane Warne. This year they also have Shilpa Shetty on board and Ed Hawkins wouldn't want to oppose them from winning it all again.

To say they were unfashionable didn't quite cut it. Their low-budget strategy irked IPL chief Lalit Modi. When the grand plan was conceived for the Twenty20 spectacular he did not envisage, nay want, a rags to riches winner.

In fact, Rajasthan are everything that the IPL should be aiming for. They played attacking cricket, revitalized the careers of international players like Watson, enhanced the reputations of others like Tanvir and, perhaps most importantly, provided a stage for India's young talent.

Yusuf Pathan, who took three wickets and hit a 39-ball 56 in the final, had a brilliant tournament. He scored 435 runs with four fifties at a strike-rate of 179, earning him an ODI call-up for the tri-series in Bangladesh and the Asia Cup in Pakistan. 20-year-old all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja also impressed while pocket battleship Swapnil Asnodkar was another to emerge. Previously considered in India as a batsman who did not have the ability or temperament to progress, the 25-year-old smashed 311 runs with a strike rate of 133.

If the IPL organizers should hold up Rajasthan as an example of how things should be, then bettors should do the same. They have all the ingredients for what should be considered a value bet in a tournament such as this.

The first is that form holds. If Leicestershire's success in England's domestic Twenty20 tournament is anything to go by - and it should be because they were also the awkward kid standing in the corner at the disco - then Rajasthan are unfairly priced at [8.80].

Like Leicestershire, who made consecutive finals day appearances from 2003 to 2006, it is the lack of superstars which catches the eye. There are no egos to distract players from their ethic, no jealousy that the cameras are focusing on one man and no selfishness on the field to steal the limelight. It is small details like this that make the difference when all teams have big talent.

Warne is the glue that makes sure every player sticks to the rules. A bloke's bloke, he got a dispirit bunch of cricketers from every corner of the globe to bond by demanding they all had a beer together after the game, play the odd game of poker and making sure that every player was given a nickname, a new identity if you like, so any prejudices between players who were rivals were forgotten.

But there is far more attention to detail to Warne than his laddish persona gives away. For each player he produced a 'What's My Role?' paper . On it, each man was left in doubt what was expected of him.

Warne is ably supported by Jeremy Snape, a master of how the mind works. He will spend time one-on-one with players to get them mentally prepared. It is no accident that he was part of the successful Leicestershire side.

We can be guilty of looking into things too closely in Twenty20. After all, it is essentially a 'see ball, hit ball' format.

Rajasthan will again rely on Smith doing that at the top of the order - Warne said it is a "massive bonus" having South Africa's captain for the tournament on his patch - while with the ball they look strong too, even if Tanvir is a notable absentee. New recruits Shaun Tait, Tyron Henderson and Morne Morkel should more than make up for the loss of the tournament's leading wicket-taker.

Their most high-profile signing, however, has been Shilpa Shetty, who is now co-owner. Well, they had to do something to catch the eye didn't they?

The Rajasthan Royals are [9.0] to win the IPL.

'.$sign_up['title'].'

'; } } ?>

:

:

:

?

: