Batsmen let India down: Ganguly

Former captain Sourav Ganguly blamed the batsmen for India's debacle in the ongoing Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a promotional event here, Ganguly said, "Batting has been responsible for the team's failure. If you want to be champions, you got to bat like true champions.

He, however, did not read much into India's poor performance, saying the format is unpredictable. "These kind of ups and downs are very common in this format of the game," he said.

Following back-to-back losses to Australia and the West Indies in the Super Eight, Indians campaign in the World Twenty20 is all but over.

Welcoming the selectors' decision to rest seniors for the upcoming Zimbabwe tour, Ganguly said, "It's a good move by selectors to rest key players for Zimbabwe tour.

"The much needed rest might come in handy especially after a long and hectic IPL apart, from the ongoing T20 world championship," he added.

'India will bounce back'

Meanwhile, despite the losses against Australia and the West Indies in the Super Eights stage, India still has a chance of making it to the semis, feels former India cricketer Lalchand Rajput.

"All is not lost yet for India. We are capable of staging a comeback. History has shown that we have always done well whenever it matters most," Rajput said.

"I think it will all come up to the net run-rate. Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that other teams help us in getting through to the last four stage," he added.

Rajput, who was the coach of the national team, which had won the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa, said batting has let India down in the tournament.

"In T20, we are not getting good starts. The team is missing Virender Sehwag. He makes look bowling easy. Even the fielding has to be taken into account. Team has not performed upto expectations," he said.

Rajput felt it was wrong to blame skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the team's poor performance as cricket is a team game.