Emerging Players’ side reaches final; matches played with green, orange balls.
The Indian team, which entered the final of the Emerging Players tournament, not only had to quickly acclimatise to the conditions in Brisbane but also had to get their eye in while playing with green, orange and white balls.
On Thursday, the Praveen Amre-coached side got the better of New Zealand to finish second with 14 points in the table behind league leaders South Africa. India will play South Africa in the finals at the Alan Border Field, Brisbane, on Saturday. India’s road to the finals wasn’t easy.
“We were completely down after we started off badly. We never expected to make the finals. However, everything changed after we beat the Australian Institute of Sports,” Amre told DNA from Brisbane.
India beat New Zealand by five wickets to enter the final. The former India batsman said the players adapted to the conditions after struggling initially. “We had only one day of practice before the tournament began. Also we had to play with different colour balls — green, orange and white in the tourney,” Amre said.
It was part of the International Cricket Council’s efforts in finding the right colour ball for day-night Test cricket. “The boys were finding it difficult to play with the different colour balls as it was something very new for them. However, I must say they fought back well and made the finals,” he added.
The team also had injury worries. “It has been a long tournament and we have been playing back-to-back games hence some of our players like Sudeep Tyagi, Amit Mishra and Abhishek Nayar suffered injuries. It hampered our performance,” said Amre.
However, the Mumbai coach said the tour has been a learning curve for the players. “It is testing their skills. They have learnt to leave a good ball and their shot selection has improved. As for bowlers they have learnt to bowl seam up,” Amre said.
Amre is confident that the team would do well against the unbeaten South African side. “They have been the best overall. But we were close to beating them in the round matches.”
Brief scores: New Zealand 246 for 9 in 50 overs (B Walting 94 n.o, T Nethulla 42; A Mishra 4-44, S Tyagi 2-56, B Kumar 2-39) lost to India 247 for 5 in 44.3 overs (V Kohli 92, S Badrinath 81, A Rahane 24).
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}