India hope to salvage pride

PERTH, JAN 29: Their reputation in tatters and morale at its lowest after another humiliating defeat to Pakistan, India hope to salvage so...

PERTH, JAN 29: Their reputation in tatters and morale at its lowest after another humiliating defeat to Pakistan, India hope to salvage some pride when they take on Australia in the last, inconsequential One-day cricket series match on Sunday.

The Indians, who had slim hopes of making the finals of the triangular tournament after beating Pakistan by 48 runs on Tuesday, were knocked out of reckoning after slumping to big defeats in the subsequent two matches by 152 runs to Australia and 104 to the Pakistanis.

And with Australia and Pakistan already through to the final, Sunday’s match would be of only academic interest.

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as far as the final outcome of the tournament is concerned, but it holds much importance for the Indians.

Coach Kapil Dev and skipper Sachin Tendulkar would like to end the tour on a winning note ahead of a tough battle at home against the touring South Africans.

The Indians were soundly thrashed by Australia in the Test series and the agony continued in the One-day version in whichthey managed to win only one match out of seven.

The Indian batting and bowling looked far inferior to their opponents during the tournament and with the exception of vice-captain Saurav Ganguly none of the batsmen could manage decent scores.