Nothing went right in the
semis: Vengsarkar

"It was one of those bad days when nothing went right for the team," was how former India captain Dilip Vengasarkar described India's defeat in the semi-finals of the Under-19 World Cup in Auckland last week.

Vengsarkar, who accompanied the team as a consultant, was, however, satisfied with the overall performance of the side, which entered the tournament as defending champions.

"Though we lost in the semi-finals to South Africa, our boys' overall performance was good," Vengasarkar, who is also in-charge of the Board of Control for Cricket in India's new scheme for spotting young talent, told reporters after the team returned from New Zealand.

"In fact, we had beaten South Africa in the league stage by 71 runs and in the semi-finals we were 80 for one off 12 overs but lost wickets regularly. The boys also dropped a few catches while fielding and let South Africa off the hook.

"I think it was one of those bad days when nothing went right for the team," he said.

He added: "Our strong point was our bowling but our fielders did not give good support. We played on a very bad wicket against Bangladesh and lost during the league stage, but against Pakistan we fought hard before going down by two wickets.

"I only wish our batters had done better than what they did. However, we have unearthed some very fine youngsters who have a bright future, like opening batsman Maninder Bisla, Chandan Madan, Abhishek Sharma, Chandrashekar Atram and Irfan Pathan."

He also praised team physio Arjun Singh Rana who, he said, kept the fitness levels of the players on par with the Australians and South Africans.

Mail Cricket Editor