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Chappell blames batsmen for loss
The Indian coach, however, said the situation didn't warrant drastic changes in the team composition.
Coach Greg Chappell on Wednesday blamed the batsmen for India's defeat against Sri Lanka in the cricket tri-series final but said the situation did not warrant drastic changes in the team composition.
"We did not make enough runs. The Sri Lankans paced everything well. They batted, fielded and bowled well. We learnt something from them," he said on his arrival here from Sri Lanka.
"As I said earlier on, both bowling and fielding were fairly consistent but batting needs to be improved. We did the best that we could do but it was not good enough. Sri Lankans played very well. We could have easily beaten them in two out of three games, we did not. We've got some things to work on."
Chappell, however, said, "The same combination could be motivated into a winning combination."
Asked whether the present lot could last till the 2007 World Cup, Chappell said, "I do not know how many will remain in the team. I have no idea. But they could be motivated into a winning combination. At the same time, I do not know when it will happen but they have the potential."
On whether India could have won if all rounder JP Yadav had been included in the playing eleven on Tuesday, the coach said, "We might have".
Asked to specify as to why things did not work according to his plan, the former Aussie captain said "it is a ridiculous question. I cannot answer that. We worked on batting, fielding and bowling but on the day we were not good enough."
Asked if Indian players have a tendency to wilt under pressure, Chappell said, "I do not know. I have not found out that as yet. When you find out, you let me know."
On the combinations that were tried during the triseries and whether they needed to be changed now, he said, "We cannot keep changing the combination for every game. We tried something and that did not work to our expectations."
Pointing out that there were number of lessons to be learnt, the coach said, "We do not have time to go into all of them. But we learnt a lot. We will keep working on a number of things. We need to field better, bowl better and bat better."
On why India failed to beat Lanka even though a second string West Indies side managed a win against them, Chappell said, "They (West Indies) could not beat India even once. What do you have to say for that. Well, I agree that they almost came close to beating India. West Indies is an emerging side with some potential players. Maybe in six months time, West Indies will be quite a good team."
On his future plans, Chappell said, "Now we have to keep working on things that we have been doing to get better. But, I have not got that far as yet in respect of preparatory camp for Zimbabwe tour."
