Kumble blames inconsistency

After suffering a eight wicket defeat by Sri Lanka in the third and last Test, and loosing the Idea Cup test series to the hosts 1-2, Anil Kumble, Indian captain expressed his disappointment over failing to win the match and another overseas series. >

Kumble said, “The batsmen did not put up a good show here and that probably cost us the series. It was critical that the middle order got runs and there was not enough consistency from any of the batters and that probably what cost us the game and the Test match here,”

“We missed out on a good opportunity to beat Sri Lanka,” said Kumble. “We did really well in Galle to come back and we did not capitalize on the winning of the toss here. You cannot lose five wickets in the first 40 overs of a Test. That happened to us quite regularly in this series, which is something we need to think about.”

“Having won the toss it was important to get a big score. We got a good start but could not capitalize. For a new batsman to go straightway and face two spinners it is never easy. If they had converted the early starts, it would have been a different story. Overall, we did not play quality cricket to win the series,”

Kumble who seemed unhappy with the batsman appreciated the bowlers. He said, “Bowlers put their hearts out. Ishant showed brilliant performance throughout the series. Zaheer showed lot of character. Harbhajan was fantastic to come back from all that he had been through during the last couple of months,”

Injuries

Commenting on the match that saw three Indian players sustaining injuries, Kumble said, “I have never seen so many players getting injured in a single day but I guess that is a part and parcel of the game,”

words of praise

The Indian test skipper acknowledged that it was the spin twosome, Muralitharan and Mendis that brought doom to the Indian Team.

Kumble said, “I think Mendis was the difference, picking up 26 wickets. When Murali and Mendis bowl together it is not easy to get runs out of them and we kept losing wickets because of the pressure created by the two. They bowled brilliantly throughout the series,”

On being asked about the failure of Sachin, Sourav and Dravid, Kumble said, “It is not just one or two players. It is important that everyone contributes. I do not think there was enough contribution throughout the series from the middle order consistently. Even the lower order did not contribute consistently except one game here. That is obviously something that let us down.”