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New team soon, says Ganguly

India is building up a new team, Saurav Ganguly, skipper of the Indian team, which made its exit from the Asia Cup cricket championship, said in Dhaka on Sunday.

''I'm sure it will shape up well soon,'' he said.

Regarding their defeat against Pakistan Saturday night, which forced them out of the tournament, the Indian captain said, ''We did not play well, neither in bowling nor in batting except for one or two.'' We have lost to two former world champions who played really well, Ganguly added.

On the performance by medium pacers Thiru Kumaran and debutant Bhandari, who conceded 86 and 74 runs respectively in their 10-over spell against Pakistan in the last match, Ganguly said, ''It will be too harsh to pass judgment on them only after Saturday's performance on such a flat wicket. Amit has made his debut while Kumaran has also started playing for the senior side only recently. It has happened to many successful bowlers in the beginning of their careers. They are young and they work hard. I'm quite hopeful that they will emerge as successful bowlers in the days to come.''

On India's batting, he said, ''Most of our batsmen faltered at crucial moments.''

Saurav criticised the failure by the Indian middle order batting and said, ''They are all experienced players. Some have played many one-day internationals and know how to bat on flat wickets even when the situation is difficult.''

UNI