The tall-talking Indian captain Sourav Ganguly and the team's cool- headed coach John Wright on Tuesday differed on the causes for India's tame defeat in the second cricket Test against Zimbabwe in Harare on Monday.

A dismal failure with the bat - he has aggregated just 49 runs in the last seven Test innings - Ganguly blamed his batsmen for the defeat. As for the bowlers, "they did not bowl badly," he said.

Wright, a former New Zealand captain, however, had tough words for both batsmen and bowlers from whom he expected greater discipline. Analysing India's defeat which enabled the home side to level the series 1-1, Wright said the Indian batsmen must have the discipline and the ability to graft. "We must produce at least 300 runs on wickets that seam," he said.

"I think from the batting perspective, there are certain shots which are more difficult to play in conditions such as here. We have to adjust in places where the ball moves around a bit," he said.

India made just 237 and 234 batting first and most of its top order batsmen were out chasing deliveries outside the off-stump. "That to me is the stand-out reason. You have to occupy the crease a little more and rein in some of your attacking instincts," the coach said.

Ganguly conceded that his team lost the game in the first hour of the fourth morning. "You can't lose seven wickets for 37 runs and expect to win. It was poor batting from top to number eleven," he said.

About his own inglorious role in the defeat, the skipper said "there was a game plan for me to see off the new ball. I am a regular. It was my responsibility to see the new ball (off) and then hope the tailenders would do well later".

Wright was critical of the medium-pacers and the kind of line and length they maintained in the series. "We bowled too short. I think our medium-pacers have to learn to make the batsmen commit more on the front foot and bowl the off-stump line," he said adding that currently India was not exactly overflowing with its bowling resources.

"If you look at the two bowling sides, the Zimbabwe attack was good enough to dismiss the Indian batting line up which, on paper, looks very strong. I can't see any reason why our bowlers can't do the same," the coach said.

Ganguly, however, didn't blame his bowlers. "I don't think our bowlers bowled badly. Even the way we fought to defend 157 was heartening. If we had stretched the target to 225, it would have been a different ball game altogether," he said.

The skipper praised seamer Ashish Nehra and off spinner Harbhajan Singh for their bowling in the series. "Nehra bowled fantastically. He was our main bowler. We just didn't have enough runs on the board (for him) to win us the game," Ganguly said and added "as for Harbhajan, a haul of 32 wickets on these pitches was not possible. But still he did a good job. He didn't go for many runs and tied up one end".

Though lamenting the lack of bowling resources, Wright conceded that the bowlers did "a great job" and said "they were not the reason why this Test match was lost".

The coach said "I think we do lack quality bowlers but we have to work hard. We got to use our resources as best as we can. Having said that, I am very encouraged by the performance of Ashish Nehra. He has done brilliantly on this tour. He seems to move the ball and has a very natural talent".

Wright complimented Zimbabwe for the way they won the Test with a depleted attack and especially when one-down in the series. He said their bowlers gave a very good exhibition on the final morning, attacking the stumps with the new ball.

Turning to individual performances of the Indian players, Wright, when asked whether it was a tactical mistake to have included Ajit Agarkar in place of Zaheer Khan, replied "Zaheer possibly was unlucky to miss this Test".

On the strange decision of including Hemang Badani to open the innings but sending in Sameer Dighe as Shiv Sundar Das' partner, Wright said "It is one of the problems (you face) when you tour abroad with only two specialist openers. If someone gets injured, you have got to try out someone (else). In retrospect, I would take the responsibility for the situation. I thought Dighe would do a good job there".

Asked why Rahul Dravid, who has a better technique against the new ball bowlers, was not asked to open the innings, Wright said the vice- captain was more comfortable batting lower down the order.

"We have to find someone who wants to open the batting. I think selecting Dravid would be a short term and not a long term prospect," Wright said. "Rahul is averaging 54 in Test cricket. He has opened on a couple of ocassions and hasn't done too brilliantly. The figures would suggest so. I feel, for Rahul we need to be looking at number five or six," he said.

The coach was very disappointed with the missed opportunity of claiming a rare series victory abroad. "I think we missed a good opportunity here. I feel very disappointed for cricket fans in India. They would have enjoyed the first series victory in 15 years," he said.

© PTI