Shane Warne congratulates Kamran Khan after he dismissed Sourav Ganguly on Thursday

Cape Town: After beating the Kolkata Knight Riders tactically, Shane Warne, the Rajasthan Royals’ captain, rubbed it in off the field.

He left nobody in doubt that he’d been delighted with the win over a team which is cricket-wise managed by John Buchanan, with whom he had major differences during their years together in the Australia dressing room.

“Irrespective of what else happens in IPL 2009, Warne would like to win both games against the Knight Riders,” somebody who knows both told The Telegraph.

The following are excerpts from Warne’s media conference:

Giving the Super Over to Kamran Khan

Look, even before the tournament began, I’d said I’ve got a lot of faith in him... Unfortunately, he got a little confused with the field, but Kamran is a star of the future... He’ll learn from that Super Over. The rest of us too.

Options considered for that over

There was Yusuf (Pathan) and I thought of myself as well, but the ball was getting wet (because of dew) and spinners would’ve had a problem gripping it... Plus, Kamran had just bowled a good (20th) over and, so, was warmed-up.

If he’d expected Ajantha Mendis to bowl the Knight Riders’ Super Over

Either Ishant Sharma or Mendis, but dew was there...

The Super Over concept

It’s exciting... This match will kick-start this edition of the IPL.

What had been his target

To get 150-plus... We got 150... Our batting was pretty good and, later, I liked our intensity on the field.

The outcome

You know, both the Knight Riders and our team thought we could win... With five overs to go, I’d thought we’d do so quite comfortably, but (Sourav) Ganguly got it away in one over (the 16th) and that brought them right back... With only seven needed in the last over, they should’ve won from there... I’m happy that we got over the line... Of course, we can improve a few things, but I think we played exceptionally... We’re the champions and are a lot better than what the result (defeat at the hands of the Royal Challengers Bangalore) of our first game showed... We’re here to win... In this match, we’d been very good in the first 10 overs of the Knight Riders... We’d won some close ones in last year’s IPL and those wins helped build team spirit.

What helps in tight finishes

Team spirit and self-belief... With three-four captains, I’m not sure the Knight Riders have got that!

Having proved that captains, not coaches, win cricket games

(Laughs) I believe in one captain... I also believe coaches should be there for age-group and first-class cricket (at the domestic stage)... At the international level, it’s the captain who runs the show and one voice as captain is the best way to go, because everybody then knows where he stands...

Lesson learnt

That one bad over (referring to the 16th, by Munaf Patel) can bring the opposition right back into the match... Also, that if you win games like this one, then you could take the tournament... We’ve taken an unbelievable amount of confidence from this win.

Communicating with Munaf, who isn’t fluent in English

A bit of Hindi, but mostly English... I try and speak slowly... I’ve got signals for him, depending on what I want.

The difference which the IPL is making

Look, the good thing is that there are so many Indian players in each franchise and they’re getting the opportunity to mix with players from overseas... We, foreigners, can help develop Indian players and thereby help Indian cricket.

Finally, his approach as the Royals’ captain

To get the players to think... To help them become the best they can be... I’m backing my players to back their own skills. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work, but they’ll still be learning from tough situations... If you hide them, they won’t learn.