Poor Team performance has let us down, why do we point out on coach

Team India have been routed by South Africa in the five-match One-Day series 0-4 after the first ODI was rained out.

The humiliating loss is being blamed on too much experimentation by coach Greg Chappell and the inability of the Indian batsmen to come to terms with the extra pace and bounce of the South African pitches.

After the defeat in Centurion on Sunday, Chappell said it was poor batting that has let the team down.

"The remedies have to come from the players themselves. They have to try and come to grips with the conditions. No one else can do it for them. We can only say that our batting was bad and that's a fact. I don't know what else you want us to say but no one is trying to bat badly. It happens," Chappell said.

He also asked the crickets fans back home who have been demanding Chappell's removal to support the Indian team.

"I can't keep giving messages to Indian fans. They have to just support the team as much as they can," Chappell added.

While Team India is feeling the heat after the poor performance in the ODIs, the South Africans are determined to keep up the pressure in the upcoming Test series too.
"I don't expect the wickets to be any different. I expect them to have good pace and bounce. Our bowling attack is full of confidence right now. We just have to adapt our game plans to the longer version of the game," South African skipper Graeme Smith said.

Man of the series in the ODI series, Shaun Pollock said that the secret of his success was bowling as per plan. Pollock told media

"I just tried to bowl as per the plan. Obviously the ball does a little bit and I try to build up the pressure. Makhaya and I have struck a good partnership and we have managed to strike every time in the series and put the Indians under pressure. That has been the key. We have had them two down very early and they haven't been able to recover.

The pitches couldn’t be blamed as Team India have won many series at home and abroad. India lost the five-match One-Day series 0-4 after the first match at Johannesburg was rained out. The Indians managed to bat for their full quota of 50 overs only in the final match at Centurion on Sunday but even then they could only put up 200 runs on board.

The three-match Test series starts on December 15 with the first Test at Johannesburg. Saurav can be added advantage to the team with lots of runs behind him during his last tour.