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Gaikwad unhappy with Kumble's harakiri

By a correspondent

Following the narrow defeat at the hands of hosts and world champions Sri Lanka in the ongoing Singer Akai Nidahas triangular one day tournament in Colombo on Wednesday, Indian coach Anshuman Gaikwad expressed his reservations over how the experienced Anil Kumble had played the final over.

For those who came in late, India needed 10 runs off the last over, being bowled by Sanath Jayasuriya. Robin Singh, batting on a superbly compiled 50, was at the non-striker's end. Kumble's role, obviously, was to steal a single somehow and let the well-set middle order batsman (who, in Jayasuriya's previous over, had lofted him over long on for six) get the strike.

Instead, the former India vice captain essayed a wild charge down the pitch, aiming to hit the first ball he received out of the ground -- only to be completely beaten, and stumped.

"He should have remembered that Robin Singh, at the other end, was well set," Gaikwad said.

For his part, skipper Azharuddin preferred to pay tribute to the back-to-the-wall, 63-run partnership for the seventh wicket by Robin Singh and Ajit Agarkar. "To fight back like that when we had lost five wickets in the space of 17 runs was not easy, both Ajit and Robin batted exceedingly well to get the team out of a precarious situation," Azhar said.

Asked why Mongia had been sent in as pinch hitter when there really seemed no need for such a move, Azhar said that it had been decided by the team management. "I think it was the right move, it failed to come off, but that happens sometimes," the captain said.

Reacting to criticism of the way the top order batsmen had played, Azhar said, "We did not play well in one innings, but that does not mean we are irresponsible, the thing to do is for all of us to learn from our mistakes."

The coach meanwhile indicated that at the start of the Indian innings, the team's gameplan was to go for a run-rate of around 5 an over, in order to ensure that even if the last two games produced unexpected results, India would not be behind-hand on the run rate.

"So, in the beginning, we looked to get that kind of run rate, it was only afte the loss of Ajay Jadeja that we decided to forget about it and just concentrate on trying to get the target," Gaikwad said.