Only god can save us from defeat in Eden test: Sehwag

Kolkata, Dec 8 (IANS) Observing that “only god can save” India from a humiliating defeat against England in the ongoing third Test match at the Eden Gardens, India opener Virender Sehwag Saturday blamed the batsmen for the team’s dismal performance.

“Wicket is not that bad for us to lose six wickets in a session. We are still fighting and hopefully something happens tomorrow so we can save the Test. Only god can help us,” the destructive batsman said after India capitulated to 239/9 managing a slender lead of 32 runs.

India after doing well in the morning session lost six wickets for just 59 runs in the post lunch double hour.

“We are very disappointed. Patience was the key. We did not bat well at all. If you apply on this wicket it is not that difficult to bat. If we had scored 400- 500 runs our bowlers would have done well as they had a big score to defend.

“We lost the last two test matches because we did not bat well. It becomes real difficult for our bowlers if we give them a total of just 200-300 runs,” said Sehwag.

He said the pitch was still good for batting and did not “turn square” and blamed the batsmen for their lack of patience and application.

“Our batsmen are not scoring runs, that is our biggest concern,” he said.

He also rubbished the claim that the team depended most on him for a decent batting performance.

“Yuvraj Singh has played 40 odd test matches and Virat Kohli has been playing well in international cricket for the last few years. The middle order is not that new. But we are playing test cricket after long time,” he said.

He also praised Ravichandran Ashwin whose unbeaten 83 helped India avoid the ignominy of an innings defeat.

“He applied himself well and the wicket is still good to bat and he got runs,” added Sehwag.

With only one wicket remaining and a full day to go, England are on the verge of taking an unassailable 2-1 lead in the four Test match series which is now tied one all.

IANS 2012-12-08 18:22:17