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Low note finish India inconsistent, mentally exhausted
Posted: Sunday June 13, 1999 01:50 PM
NOTTINGHAM, England (AP) -- India's coach has blamed his team's inconsistency and mental fatigue from an overdose of one-day cricket for its exit from the World Cup despite flashes of brilliance. Although India's elimination from the tournament was known Friday, it is going back home on a low note after losing its last Super Six fixture on Saturday by five wickets against New Zealand. "We just weren't consistent," Indian coach Anshuman Gaekwad said. "When we played well, we were exceptionally well ... but we failed to keep the momentum." Gaekwad attributed the inconsistency to excessive cricket played by the Indians, especially one-day internationals. "Physically you might get attuned to it but the mental fatigue takes its toll on the performance," he said. "When mental fatigue sets in, the players tend to relax a bit ... that's what might have happened with the Indian team. "On ability we should have made the semifinals," he said. Indian captain Mohammed Azharuddin concurred. "We've played a lot of one-dayers in the last three years," he said. "The boys came out with some brilliant individual performances, but we lacked overall consistency ... these things do happen and there's little one could do," he said. The Indians were among the top performers with four batsmen -- Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Ajay Jadeja -- hitting five of the eight centuries scored in the tournament so far. Dravid and Ganguly also are the highest run makers of the tournament. Saturday's victory gave the Kiwis a place in the semifinals but skipper Stephen Fleming said his team's progress was littered with road blocks. "Our entry into the semifinals was anything but smooth," said Fleming, and credited it to doing "the right things at the right time." New Zealand, with a net run-rate of -0.52, qualified ahead of Zimbabwe (-0.79) after both teams finished level on five points in the Super Six standings. But because of the World Cup point awarding system, Zimbabwe, which hasn't won a single match in the Super Six, could still make it to the semifinals if Australia loses to South Africa Sunday. India has been a prime victim of the Super Six format, being eliminated despite playing better than Zimbabwe. But Azharuddin said he has no complaints. "It would not be fair for me to comment on the rules after India's ouster ... we should've been better prepared. "I am not going to use the new format as an excuse for India's inability to make the semifinals. We knew the rules and should have played accordingly." Azharuddin, whose captaincy is under fire, refused to discuss his future and said the team has two months before its next international fixture. India is due to tour Sri Lanka for a one-day triangular with Australia and hosts Sri Lanka in August. On Saturday, fighting half-centuries by Matthew Horne and Roger Twose formed the backbone of the Kiwis' match winning innings. Chasing India's 251 for six from 50 overs, New Zealand notched 253 for five in 48.2 overs after opener Horne hit 74 runs to rescue his team from 90 for three in 22 overs.
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