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India can still clinch title: Chappell
India coach Greg Chappell says his team can rebound after suffering two dejecting defeats in the ongoing Indian Oil Cup in Sri Lanka.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 09:54 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Colombo: India coach Greg Chappell says his team can rebound after suffering two dejecting defeats to clinch the cricket tri-series title over Sri Lanka and the West Indies. "We haven't played well here, hopefully we are saving out best for the last game of the series ... That would be nice," Chappell told reporters on Friday. India has just one victory a€" against a second-string West Indies a€" from three preliminary league matches. It lost twice to Sri Lanka in games that Chappell felt India could have won. "We could easily have won all three games," said Chappell, who in June took over as India's coach from New Zealander John Wright. Chappell said his team was disappointed with the result of Wednesday's match where it had the game under control until a blazing 94 not out from Mahela Jayawardene clinched Sri Lanka a spirited victory. India needs to win its last league match, against the West Indies on Sunday, to secure a place in the August 9 final against Sri Lanka, which has already ensured a spot in the title encounter with three straight wins. Sri Lanka plays the West Indies in its last league fixture Saturday. Banking on confidence Chappell said a turnaround in India's fortunes wasn't far away. "Winning takes practice and we've got to get back to the winning practice. Once the confidence and belief comes back, this side will turn around quite quickly," Chappell said. "The guys are worried, they need to put up big scores," he said. "The boys are putting in a lot of hard work, at some stage it's going to work. "In cricket, in life and in sport, these things happen. We have to take lessons and move on," said Chappell. Chappell said good results don't happen overnight. "We are talking about a process that will take time ... Whether that will be one month, six months or 12 months, only time will tell," he said. Chappell said he was a little worried about India's problems squeezing in the fifth bowler's quota of 10 overs. "If we bat better, we can accommodate an extra bowler. Had we batted better the problem won't have been so noticeable," he said. (AP)
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Cricket Gregory Stephen Chappell
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