KKR will improve after Deccan win: SRK

Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders' owner Shah Rukh Khan admitted the team missed its former captain Sourav Ganguly but said it would perform "better" than it had done in previous years.

KKR's first match at the Eden Gardens this year received a lukewarm response, unlike in the past when the stadium was full for all games.

Kochi hope to get into winning ways

Mumbai: Having lost their Indian Premier League opener in their debut season, Kochi Tuskers Kerala would be eager to turn things around quickly when they lock horns with the other new franchise Pune Warriors at the D Y Patil Stadium here on Wednesday.

For this to happen the Kochi bowling attack, that includes maverick pacer S Sreesanth and India discard Rudra Pratap Singh, needs to pull up its socks and deliver the goods.

Rajasthan v Delhi, IPL 2011, Jaipur----Tait in for injured Oram, Delhi bat

Toss Delhi Daredevils chose to bat v Rajasthan Royals

Toss Delhi Daredevils chose to bat v Rajasthan Royals
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Virender Sehwag won the toss and chose to bat on a Jaipur pitch that Shane Warne described as "tough work for the bowlers". Sehwag hoped his team would recover from their batting failure in the opening game against Mumbai Indians, and backed his bowlers to defend a total of 140-150.

Sehwag and his top-order colleagues will have to contend with Shaun Tait, who came into the Rajasthan side for an injured Jacob Oram. "When Tait gets it right, he is the best in the business," Warne said. The Rajasthan captain hoped his bowlers could make dents in the Delhi top order in the first six overs.

India domestic stalwart Ajinkya Rahane also came into Rajasthan's XI, replacing Stuart Binny. Delhi made one change to their team, with seamer Umesh Yadav making way for left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem.

Rajasthan Royals: 1 Amit Paunikar (wk), 2 Rahul Dravid, 3 Johan Botha, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Abhishek Raut, 6 Ashok Menaria, 7 Ajinkya Rahane, 8 Amit Singh, 9 Shane Warne (capt), 10 Siddharth Trivedi, 11 Shaun Tait

Delhi Daredevils: 1 David Warner, 2 Virender Sehwag (capt), 3 Unmukt Chand, 4 Aaron Finch, 5 Naman Ojha (wk), 6 Venugopal Rao, 7 Irfan Pathan, 8 Roelof van der Merwe, 9 Morne Morkel, 10 Shahbaz Nadeem, 11 Ashok Dinda

Nitin Sundar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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I am not against India or Hindus: Shahid Afridi

The semifinal loss to India in the World Cup continues to rankle Pakistan's ODI captain Shahid Afridi who said it was a mistake to position himself in the lower-half of the batting order in the high-voltage game.

"I am not a born captain and I also make mistakes. I made mistakes in the World Cup particularly in the semi-final at Mohali. I should have gone up the order like Mahendra Singh Dhoni did against Sri Lanka in the final at Mumbai," Afridi said on a show on 'Geo News'.

The flamboyant all-rounder said with Abdul Razzaq also available down the order, he should have taken a chance and promoted himself in the semifinal against India.

"The move by Dhoni in the final to come up himself worked and it could have also worked for us but we all make mistakes it was my mistake," he said.

He pointed out that India had one of the strongest and best batting line-ups in the world and when Pakistan bowled them out for 260, there was total silence at the innings break in the stadium.

"Once we held them down to 260, I knew we had a strong chance of winning the match. Unfortunately, we didn't bat well and the moment Umar Akmal got out, I had a bad feeling it was not going our way," he said.

"I am learning every day as captain because it is a big learning process."

Afridi refused to to comment on Indo-Pak relations but was reiterated that there were some elements in the Indian media who were negative about ties.

"About that I am convinced there are negative elements. And if both countries want to move forward this mindset has to change.

"I am not against India or Indian people or Hindus. They are Hindus living in Pakistan just like Muslims in India and since this is a very sensitive issue I have decided that from now on I will not speak on it," Afridi said.

Afridi also said he never expected to end up as the joint highest wicket-taker in the World Cup.

"I didn't go into the tournament thinking I will take 21 wickets. It is a big honor for me and I am happy that I contributed to the team's cause."

Afridi and Zaheer Khan finished with 21 wickets apiece in the World Cup.

Afridi insisted he had no immediate plans to retire from international cricket.

"While the 2015 World Cup is still a long way away I am presently looking at the Twenty20 World Cup that will be held next year. I will continue to play and captain the side as long as I am performing and as long as the board and people can tolerate and accept me," he added.

Sachin praises Malinga after easy win

Mumbai Indians Captain Sachin Tendulkar praised teammate Lasith Mailnga for his five wicket-haul in the team's comprehensive win against Delhi Daredevils here on Sunday.

Malinga generated genuine pace and got most of his wickets by bowling in swinging yorkers. Tendulkar pointed out on his exploits in the second over where he clean bowled David Warner and youngster Unmukt Chand.

"Malinga started so well and after that the wickets kept coming," said Sachin.

"It was a spectacular bowling display by him and the fielding was very good as well."

Tendulkar admitted that adjusting to slow Kotla wicket was tough.

Before the toss, we thought 135-140 on this wicket was a good score. But the batsmen especially Rohit (Sharma) played well. He is a gifted player today we saw how he played shots on a difficult track," said the master blaster.

Played a maiden over after 10 years: Sehwag

Fiery pacer Lasith Malinga, who scythed through Delhi Daredevils batting in Mumbai Indian's eight wicket victory here on Sunday, can rejoice at a rare feat. And that is bowling a maiden over to explosive opener Virender Sehwag.

Even Sehwag admitted that it was for the first time in 10 years that he played a maiden over.

Yes, I think after 10 years I played a maiden today. It was a plan. We lost two wickets so I thought let me play Malinga because others may not be able to pick him.

We have 10 debutants in Delhi squad and it will take a little time for us to come together," Sehwag said.

The Daredevils, playing their first match in this edition in their home ground Feroze Shah Kotla, crashed to an eight wicket defeat with fast bowler Malinga picking his best IPL figures of 5-13.

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