Anil Kumble lambasted the Australians for their unsportsmanlike behaviour in the second cricket Test, saying only his side played the match in the true spirit of the game.
SYDNEY: Indian skipper Anil Kumble on Sunday lambasted the Australians for their unsportsmanlike behaviour in the second cricket Test, saying only his side played the match in the true spirit of the game.
"Only one team was playing with the spirit of the game, that's all I can say," a dejected Kumble said after his side went down by 122 runs largely due to the umpiring blunders and some inept batting.
"It's tough when you've played all forms of cricket over the last 25 years and end up on the losing side like this -- it does affect you," he added.
Kumble said his side was still trying hard to take the whole episode sportingly but admitted that he was hard not to feel outraged by the continuous umpiring errors.
"You try and take it sportingly, but it's very difficult and it hurts when you lose like this and then when you've had a great chance to win the Test match and square the series, but unfortunately it didn't happen," he rued.
In an emotionally charged statement Kumble said he was disappointed with the lack of sportsman spirit shown by the Australians.
"We'd like to play hard on the field and expect that from Australia as well. I've played my cricket very sincerely and honestly, that's the approach my team takes and we expect that from Australia as well," he said.
Kumble hardly minced words in blaming the dubious umpiring by Mark Benson and Steve Bucknor for his side's heart-breaking loss.
"It's there for everyone to see, I am not going to comment on it," was Kumble's sarcastic response when asked what he thought was the difference between the two sides.
"(The umpiring) was there for everyone to see but it was important for us to keep those things out of our mind. We lost a little bit of focus. I think we should have batted the last two sessions," he added.
"We played fantastic cricket from day one after the loss in Melbourne. We even took a lead in the first innings but unfortunately could not save the match. Even today a couple of things did not go our way."
Kumble said he could understand the umpires getting it wrong on a few occasions but their consistent errors probably cost India a chance to go 1-1 with Australia ahead of the third Test in Perth.
"We understand that things happen in a match and you have to get on with it but there were too many things happening in this one. And it's difficult to keep your focus in the face of all this. But we tried hard... played brilliantly," Kumble said, trying to put up a brave face.
"You don't want to lose a match after being in the position that we were in. We dominated the first innings but unfortunately could not convert into the right result," Kumble said.
Kumble, however, brushed aside suggestions that the defeat and the poor umpiring would have a demoralising effect on the team.
"I know the spirit is good in the team but obviously a draw would have lifted us. But still we are confident of doing well in Perth. we have 10 days to go before that match and assess our performance. We also have a practice game coming up so we are looking forward to that," he said.
"Our job is to go and play to the best of our ability and we will do that in Perth. There are a few positives that we will take from this game like the batting of Sachin Tendulkar, and VVS Laxman and Harbhajan's bowling and his batting as well," he added.
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