Confidence is low, says coach
INDIAN coach Greg Chappell faces a race to get his team brimming with confidence ahead of their Test series against South Africa.
India suffered a ODI series whitewash after losing all five one-day matches in South Africa.
And coach Greg Chappell said there was no time to dwell on the shocking series defeat ahead of the forthcoming Test series.
“A break could have done quite a few players good but we’ve got to face up to the fact that we have a Test series to play in the next 10 days or so”, he said after India were beaten by 9 wickets in the fifth ODI at Centurion Park.
The heavy loss in South Africa comes after defeat in the ICC Champions Trophy which India was hosting.
India had expected to take the trophy but Chappell admitted his team were not batting well enough.
“It’s disappointing, there’s nothing more I can say”, he said.
“There’s no finer point to put on it, we are not batting well enough.
“We haven’t come to grips with the conditions and we need to.Nothing more, nothing less.”
He said it was down to the players to try and reverse their current form.
“The remedy has got to come from within the player”, he said.
“They have got to find a way to come to grips with the conditions. No one else can do it for them. We can only say that the facts are: we haven’t batted very well. No one’s trying to bat badly. It happens. It has happened before, and it will probably happen again. Teams go through these phases. When the confidence is down, it’s hard to play with confidence. We are not playing with a great deal of it at the moment, and we need to find some.”
He also urged fans in India to get behind the team when the Test series starts in Johannesburg on 15 December.
