Indian cricket manager Lalchand Rajput defended the batting order of the team in the 6th ODI at Nagpur when an out-of-form Rahul Dravid was sent in at number 4.
MUMBAI: Indian cricket manager Lalchand Rajput on Tuesday defended the batting order of the team in the sixth ODI at Nagpur when an out-of-form Rahul Dravid was sent in at number four despite the asking rate climbing steadily in chase of a mammoth total.
"The third power play was not yet taken and that's why we sent in Irfan Pathan and then when he got out there were a lot of overs remaining which was the reason for sending in Rahul," Rajput said.
"He's a world-class player who had done extremely well and just needs a start (to rediscover his touch)," Rajput said on the eve of the last and inconsequential tie of the series in which the visitors have taken an invincible 4-1 lead by clinching the Nagpur tie by 18 runs.
The former India opener also wanted his team to learn the consistency factor in all departments of the game from the outstanding Australians and said this was the biggest difference between the two teams.
"The lesson we have learned from this series is about the consistency factor in all departments of the game. This is the area where the Australians have scored over us.
"We need to become more consistent in batting, bowling and fielding by keeping the intensity factory throughout the game," said the former Test opener.
"Australia are the best side in the world, but we have shown that we are the one team which can give them a run for the money if we improve our consistency," claimed Rajput.
Rajput also admitted that the bowling at the death was another area in which the team was lagging behind and needs to focus on improving.
"We have not bowled well at the death. We have been working on it and it's another area we need to improve upon," he said.
Rajput felt the Australian batsmen have played the Indian spinners better and this has had an impact on the outcome of the rubber.
"They have played our spinners very well. They have adapted and adjusted to the spinning ball and this has helped them recover from scores of 80 or 90 for four," he said.
Rajput, who said the team's composition for the inconsequential last tie was not decided when he came to speak to the media, also denied reports quoting him from Nagpur on the eve of the ODI there that as manager he has never lost a series.
"I was misquoted on that. When that person said that you have lost the series I corrected him by saying we had not as two matches were still left (Nagpur and Mumbai) and we had a chance of squaring the series," he explained.
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