India lost mental battle in WI: Ganguly

India lost to the West Indies in their minds rather than on the field, captain Saurav Ganguly said on Wednesday after the home side completed a 2-1 Test series victory.

The West Indies needed only 35 minutes to take the three wickets they needed to dismiss India for 252 and claim a 155-run win on the fifth morning of the final Test after setting the visitors a victory target of 408.

"We lost the series in our heads rather than anywhere else," Ganguly said. "We do not lack ability but there has got to be something in our minds that makes us lose overseas crunch games like this."

India had lost the second of two Tests against Zimbabwe last year and then fallen in the deciding third Test in Sri Lanka after winning the second game in Kandy.

"If we were a poor team abroad we wouldn't have won matches in Bulawayo, Kandy and here in Trinidad," Ganguly said.

"The problem lies somewhere else. We need to give something extra in crunch situations. That's what makes a good team. Our nine straight losses in one-day finals also suggest a similar trend."

The tourists had won the second Test in Trinidad by 37 runs, their first Test victory in the Caribbean in over 26 years, but lost in Barbados by 10 wickets after getting bowled out for 102 in the first innings on a fast track.

"They played better than us in Barbados and here in Jamaica," Ganguly said.

"The foreign conditions were not the problem. We just didn't bat well on a good wicket at Barbados, where we only needed to see off the first 10 overs when the ball was moving."

Coach John Wright said he was disappointed by the team's inability to rise to the occasion.

"We were coming into a decider and everyone was aware of that," he said. "When you are playing in foreign conditions, it's not easy to win a series and you need to up your standard."

India stay in West Indies for five one-day internationals before travelling to England next month for four Tests and a one-day tri-series also involving Sri Lanka.

Mail Cricket Editor