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 Kolkata,
Nov 19: Stand-in skipper Rahul Dravid yesterday blamed the
"terrible batting" performance for the team's defeat in
the final of the cricket tri-series here against Australia, saying,
not playing out the full 50 overs was "criminal". "A
total of 235 was easily gettable. We just needed to bat out 50 overs
to get to the total." "But we put up a terrible batting
performance when it really mattered ," Dravid said after India
lost to world champions Australia by 37 runs.
Dravid denied that
the condition was not favourable for batting and said "not
batting for 50 overs is nothing but criminal." Admitting that
the fielding was below par in this crucial encounter, Dravid said,
"it was not a good day for us in the field as many chances were
not taken." India dropped as many as six catches, with VVS
Laxman being the culprit on three occasions.
 "Even then,
the bowlers did a good job to restrict the Australians to 235. But
the batsmen let us down," he added. Dravid admitted that
Australia was the best side of the tournament and said India needs
to do "some catching up" before going for the tour Down
Under. "They (Australia) played well throughout the tournament
and are deserving winners. We now have to sit down and work on our
weaknesses before going to Australia and need to do some catching
up."
Australian
skipper Ricky Ponting was elated with his team's performance and
said the performance of "second string" players showcased
the depth of Australian cricket. "We are extremely happy with
our performance. After losing the first match we came back strongly
and capped it off with a win today," Ponting said. "It
doesnt matter to us that the top guys were not there. (Nathan)
Bracken and (Brad) Williams bowled extremely well and that shows the
depth of Australian cricket."
 Master Blaster
Sachin Tendulkar, who won the Man of Series award, said the bowlers
had done an excellent job but the batsmen failed to complete the
job. "235 was not a big total. I am quite disappointed, I got
out at the wrong time," Tendulkar said. Left-arm spinner
Michael Clarke, who scored a quickfire 44 and also took the wickets
of Hemang Badani and Rahul Dravid was elected the Man of Match.
(Agencies)
Published:
Wednesday, November 19, 2003
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