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One game spoilt the party, says Jadeja

"It was disappointing that we could not bring the L G Cup to India," said skipper Ajay Jadeja, on the Indian cricket team's arrival in Bombay today.

However, he was happy with the team's performance and described the loss to South Africa in yesterday's final as "just one of those things".

"Look at it in the positive way and you will see the difference in the side. Everybody was very keen on the field. They are all youngsters and they fought very hard. Unfortunately, one game spoilt the party,'' said Jadeja.

When asked about the emergence of Vijay Bhardwaj, he replied: "Why only Bhardwaj? The entire team was fighting hard. All of them played good cricket. They complemented each other; it was not just one person alone. If somebody picked up wickets, it was not because of his efforts only. The other four bowlers kept the pressure on. I would not like to point out any single individual. Everybody has done well.''

On the side's fielding, he said: "Though we tried our best, I feel we could have done better had the outfield been even. We are moving ahead. We have proved that the talent is there.

''We had five-six youngsters in the side, and considering that, the team's performance was quite good.''

Jadeja said he really enjoyed his stint as captain and thanked the team "for making the effort I was looking for".

"They made my job so easy. All I had to do was toss the coin and hand over the ball. They excelled in all three departments of the game. I really had nothing to do.''

On his decision to chase in the final, Jadeja was emphatic: "People can criticise that now, but I do not believe all this talk that we are not good chasers. People used to say that we are not good fielders also, but we have proved them wrong. All this talk about being bad chasers is rubbish.''

Deposed coach Anshuman Gaekwad said: "The newcomers really came on well and had good potential to perform consistently at the international level."

The L G Cup was the last coaching assignment for Gaekwad. Former India captain Kapil Dev takes over from the New Zealand series which gets under way from October 10 at Mohali.

UNI