Middle-order, a worrying factor: Gaekwad

MUMBAI, DEC 17: The Indian cricket squad, smarting from the debacle in Sharjah, arrived here this afternoon.With another disastrous oversea...

MUMBAI, DEC 17: The Indian cricket squad, smarting from the debacle in Sharjah, arrived here this afternoon.With another disastrous overseas trip, serious doubts hang over the team’s winning abilities. However, captain Sachin Tendulkar and coach Anshuman Gaekwad tried to put up a brave front while analysing the abysmal performance.Both pointed to a fragile middle-order as the grey area which resulted in the team finishing in the cellar of the four-nation competition after losing all their matches.

“We should not have given it away so easily,” remarked Tendulkar while expressing his displeasure at the repeated caving in of the middle-order.

Gaekwad too toed the same line even as he complimented the bowlers for doing a good job. “We have to get our act together in the middle-order batting. It is a worrying factor. For example yesterday (against the West Indies) we lost Sachin and Azhar — our main and senior-most batsmen — to run outs. It immediately put us against the wall,” the former India opener said.

The think-tank’s inability to decide on the skipper’s batting order was also amply reflected in the press briefing. Tendulkar himself felt: “It should be left very open. At times it would be better if I open and at other times it would be good if I go lower down. But it is for the selectors to decide. I am very flexible on the issue.” Gaekwad, however, pointed out that the issue would be brought up before the selection committee meeting tomorrow when the team for the forthcoming one-day series against Sri Lanka will be announced.

Both the captain and coach refused to accept criticism for changing the batting order whereby left-hander Robin Singh was sent in ahead of Tendulkar himself in the second league clash against Pakistan when India were on top.While Tendulkar said the move would not have been criticised had it clicked, Gaekwad was more vehement in saying that those who criticised the move — without considering the situation at that stage — did not know their cricket.

Tendulkar defended the move of promoting Robin Singh saying, “Had it worked, nobody would have said so (criticised it). Robin Singh is a player who can hit the ball hard with the spin when the Pakistani leg spinners were bowling into the rough. I thought he was the ideal man to do the job.” Tendulkar, when pointedly asked whether he was unhappy over the poor show of some senior players in the team, said that he was disappointed with the whole performance.

Tendulkar opined that leg spinners bowling on the bowlers’ rough and making the ball turn into the right handers was new to one-day cricket. “Even England found it difficult to handle as the wickets were conducive to spin,” he said.