Objective achieved, says Laxman
Staff Reporter - 19 February 2001
The India A skipper VVS Laxman was all smiles with the performance of
his team in the three day encounter against the Australians which
ended in a draw in Nagpur on Monday.
Laxman told CricInfo that as a captain his objective was not to let
the Australians get on top early on the tour. He said that if the
visitors had a good game here, it would have boosted their confidence.
Now they would be a bit cautious in their approach.
Laxman said he was happy with the way Sadagopan Ramesh played. "I am
happy to see him score runs and it's good for him. He is stroking the
ball well. He did miss out on a few games before this, so it's nice to
see him play well here."
On his own batting, Laxman said, "I was a bit disappointed not to get
my century after having settled down so well." The skipper was pleased
with the way his spinners bowled but was disappointed with the few
dropped catches.
Australian coach John Buchanan said that he was disappointed with the
batting in the first innings. He added that Colin Miller's bowling
performance was encouraging but he expected a bit more from his medium
pacers as well. On Tendulkar, Buchanan said he was an exceptionally
talented player and when he came in to bat "it's a different ball
game altogether."
The coach added he was happy to see Kasprowicz and Gillespie do well
with the bat. He said it was a good sign to see the lower order make
runs.
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