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Sahara Pune Warriors spinner Murali Kartik has said that the inclusion of two new teams in the Indian Premier League has made the tournament a lot more competitive.
Addressing mediapersons in Mumbai, Kartik said: "Two new teams, some more players coming into the fray, definitely it has made it a lot more competitive. After the auction, talks were, two sides were very strong.
"In spite of that I think people have done their homework and have managed to put together good sides. And as I have said, on a given day if you certain things right in 20-20 cricket, you definitely cross the line as a winner," he added.
Responding to a poser on the Twenty-20 format of cricket, Kartik said both the batsmen and bowlers are getting used to it.
"We have got used to it, 60 yards, flat wickets, bigger bats, it is a bit of an unequal contestÂ…that is what we have to content with and possibly, with all the bowlers, we have tried to survive in the game, and possibly, it can only get better for us, we are also trying to come to grips with doing different things," added Kartik.
Also present in the news conference, was Geoff Marsh, the coach of Pune Warriors, who said since out of the four games played, his team has lost two and won two, he sees a fair chance of the team performing well in the next couple of matches.
Kartik also said, in a Twenty-20 game, bowlers tend to follow new tricks, especially when they are bowling to batsmen in the calibre of Sachin Tendulkar.
Photograph: Hitesh Harisinghani