After defeat to Sri Lanka sent India crashing out of the tri-series early, their captain Suresh Raina has said his team of youngsters hadn't been convincing in the entire tournament.
Following two embarrassing losses to Zimbabwe, India fielded three debutants in their must-win match against Sri Lanka, but the change in combination didn't work as Raina's men were easily defeated by six wickets. The lackluster campaign, combined with South Africa's whitewash of West Indies, has resulted in India slipping one place to third in the one-day rankings, with Graeme Smith's side moving up to second.
"We haven't looked good throughout the tournament," Raina said. "I am not happy at all. We scored around 270 but we didn't bowl well, especially with the new ball. R Ashwin bowled well, and he batted well too."
The star of the day was Sri Lanka's 20-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Chandimal, who made a sparkling century to steer the chase. "All credit goes to Sri Lanka, they batted really well, especially Dinesh," Raina said. The Sri Lankan captain, Tillakaratne Dilshan, also lauded the youngster. "I'm really happy with Chandimal's batting, playing so well in his second game."
Dilshan was also thrilled that his side had clinched a spot in the finals with a match to spare, and singled out the fielding for praise. "I said in the morning, we want to finish it off today. Our players did really well. We kept the pressure up through the fielding, keeping the fielders up," Dilshan said. "I told the players we needed to improve the fielding, and they did a really good job in the field, stopping good shots, taking difficult catches."
