For Test ending in a stalemate: Captains blast the bowlers

By Sa'adi Thawfeeq

Friday 15, August 1997


The captains blamed their bowlers for the second cricket Test between Sri Lanka and India ending in a draw at the SSC grounds on Wednesday.

``Our fast bowlers didn't bowl well at all. Even when we took the second new ball, they bowled very badly,'' said Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga.

``We knew if we got early wickets we had a chance. But on this particular day we didn't field well also,'' said Ranatunga.

``We missed a couple of important chances and that's where everything went wrong. In one-day matches you have to field for only fifty overs, but in the longer game you may have to field sometimes for two days. That's the difference,'' he said.

Indian captain Sachin Tendulkar said : ``We could have definitely done better. We bowled either a little too short or too up. We didn't bowl good length deliveries. We have to try and land all six deliveries on the same spot''. Em]''We had to play out the whole day and if we lost wickets we knew we didn't have any chance to come back, because the pressure is such,'' said Tendulkar.

``I thought our chances of winning disappeared when I got out. My wicket was very important. Till then we had played slowly,'' said Tendulkar, who is nursing a thigh injury which he hopes will come right for Sunday's first one-day international.

``Batting in the first innings I suddenly realised that I could not move my leg. I was struggling the other day. I find it very hard to stretch and put any weight on it. I need to rest it for a couple of days,'' said Tendulkar.

India set 373 runs to win finished on 281 for five with Mohammad Azharuddin making use of three chances to score a century and deprive Sri Lanka any chance of victory.

The two-Test series ended in a nil-all draw. Both teams meet each other in a series of three one-day game internationals starting on Sunday.


Source: The Daily News

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Date-stamped : 25 Feb1998 - 14:49