'Sachin is also human,' says Ganguly

Bridgetown, May 6: Captain Sourav Ganguly strongly defended his trump card Sachin Tendulkar and said it was unfair to criticize the World No.1 batsman for his double failure at the Kensigton Oval where India crashed to their seventh defeat in eight Tests.

"He (Tendulkar) is also human. He is the best batsman in the game but he can have a bad game as anyone else.

"Tendulkar has done great things for India and I am sure there is another hundred coming from him in Antigua," Ganguly said of his star batsman who has scores of 0, 0 and 8 after hitting his first hundred on West Indian soil.

The skipper said going into the last day, he was inspired by his team's fight backs on two previous occasions from similar positions.

"We did it in Kolkata against Australia last year and then we did so in Mohali against New Zealand in 1999, said Ganguly. But then West Indies deserved to win here and there is no harm in accepting that they played better cricket."

Ganguly was also happy with his fighting unbeaten knocks of 48 and 60 in this Test.

"Well, I have been hitting the ball pretty well but the problem is one innings I fail and they (critics) start talking about my form," Ganguly said.

Coach John Wright was a concerned man after three Tests seeing the repeated poor shot-selection of his top batsmen.

"The biggest worry we have on the tour is shot selection. If we talk about discipline, that is required in the shots you make in the middle. It's disappointing to see the same mistakes repeated," said Wright after India made 102 and 296 in the two innings here.

"Obviously when you are going to make 400 runs in aggregate, you are going to make it very difficult for yourself," said Wright. "The first day was our nemesis really."

Wright also identified poor batting by tailenders and crucial run outs as reasons for India's defeat.

"Going into this game, I said we needed something more from our tail. It didn't eventuate. As for run-outs it is something we can't afford when your tail starts at No. Six."

But for a career best 46 by left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan, the rest of the Indian lower order walked in and out in comical fashion in all the three Tests.

Harbhajan Singh and Javagal Srinath, once India's pinch- hitter, were the main culprits who made no effort to hang in and help build a partnership. Off-spinner Sarandeep Singh showed grit and built a crucial partnership with Rahul Dravid in the first Test. But he didn't get chance after that with only one slot for spinners. 

India also suffered two crucial run-outs here. Dravid was run-out in the first innings due to Ganguly's mistake and Wasim Jaffer suffered a similar fate in the second innings when he was looking good batting on 51.

"I think our two run-outs were because of (Shivnaraine) Chanderpaul's alertness in the field. In the second innings, he came closer to put himself in that position (to effect a run-out). It was good field craft," Wright said.

Looking back at the first day he said: "We really needed to get through those two hours. That was critical. But we can't blame the conditions. If you have 100 runs in the first innings, you have to make sure you make 450 in second innings."

The Indian skipper also cited a few examples when in the past, touring teams recovered from early blows to post good totals at Kensington Oval.

"It is typical of a first morning of a Test to lose two or three wickets. But our tail is not good enough to recover. Australia were 30 for three here, Pakistan were 50 for five but the lower order produced runs and they scored in excess of 250.

"I have a feeling if the West Indies were put in to bat, even they would have gone through the same trouble," Ganguly said.

Ganguly didn't make a pointed reference to the run-out reprieve which his counterpart Carl Hooper had when on 15 at a critical stage of the West Indies first innings.

"A few things have happened in this Test which I don't want to comment upon but it could have still put the game back onto its course. These things happen in cricket."

Ganguly said he didn't look to protect the tail-enders in the second innings yesterday.

"I didn't protect them because I thought they should get into the frontline as well. They should play the fast bowlers and sort it out. Only they can sort it out for themselves."

West Indian captain Carl Hooper warned his side against complacency in the remaining two Tests after humbling India by 10 wickets. "We shouldn't get complacent. We should be cautious as Antigua is a new test and we start from scratch again," he said.

"In the past we have done that. We have played good cricket and then gone and done badly in the next game." 

Hooper, however, said his team must savour this win over the Indians, coming as it did after the debacle in the second Test at Port of Spain which they lost by 37 runs

"It is one of the matches where we bowled and batted as a unit. On day one, our bowlers set it up for us. On day two and three, our batters did a good job. And then finishing it today, our bowlers again did a good job," Hooper summed up.

"The good thing about this victory is that it was very convincing. We have noticed in the past our inability to bowl outside the off stump but we did it in both innings in this game," said Hooper.

Man-of-the-match Mervyn Dillon, who bagged four wickets each in the two innings was happy to have played his part but said he didn't believe he was now the No. 1 bowler of Windies.

"I wouldn t say I am the number one fast bowler in the West Indies team. I am just one of the four fast bowlers and I am happy to have played my role in this win," he said.