A huge slice of luck helped Delhi Daredevils secure a berth in the last four, but skipper Virender Sewhag will leave nothing to chance when his team takes on Shane Warne's Rajasthan Royals in the first semi-final of the IPL on Friday.
The Daredevils advanced to the semi-final after table leaders Rajasthan Royals secured an improbable win over Mumbai Indians in their last league match, clinching victory in the final over. But Sehwag is not looking for favours from here on.
''Luck has been a huge factor in this tournament, but we will go all out now,'' Sehwag told the Reuters.
"There are no weak teams in this competition, never mind the points table. Anyone can beat anyone on their day and you have to always be on your guard."
"I think we deserve to be in the semi-finals and we are not afraid of Rajasthan Royals."
Sehwag has some reason for optimism as the Delhi Daredevils' under-performing middle-order finally came good in their last league match against the Mumbai Indians.
Dinesh Karthik (56 not out) and Manoj Tiwary (36) turned in creditable performances, but
Rajasthan Royals have show tremendous versatility and depth right through the league phase. Shane Warne's marshalling of resources has been a stand-out feature, but he too would have a headache picking the right combination.
"We know for sure in the opening slot, we have (Graeme) Smith and Swapnil Asnodkar. Yusuf Pathan, Shane Watson and I are the regulars in the middle-order. Then in the bowling department, we have Sohail Tanvir, who has been fantastic in the tournament so far," Warne said.
"The rest of the guys like Kamran Akmal and Younus Khan who is one of the best batsmen around, are fighting for a place in the team. It has given me a serious headache. It's really a tough decision on who to keep and who to drop."
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