Azhar blames team selection for India's World Cup debacle

Former captain Mohammad Azharuddin on Wednesday blamed the team selection for India's humiliating performance at the World Cup."It's very sad. It shouldn't have been so. The outcome of a game is unpredictable but the fact is that they were just not playing with a strong team. The selection wasn't right. When you select a proper side, then you can really perform well. But I think that the batting was good," Azharuddin told reporters on the sidelines of a function.

He went on to ay that blaming coach Greg Chappell was pointless because victory depends on players' performances.

"To be very honest, you can't blame the coach, because the coach can (only) say, but at the end of the day, players have to go and fight it out in the middle. So you can't blame anybody. I think that the team should take the blame as a whole," he added.

Runners-up in the last edition in Africa, India was eliminated in the first round of the game's most coveted tournament in the Caribbeans last week after losing two out of three group matches, to Bangladesh and former champions Sri Lanka.

The team's early exit led to widespread demand by several former players and irate fans to axe captain Rahul Dravid and coach Greg Chappell.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is to analyse the debacle at a meeting early next month, which may lead to the sacking of coach Chappell. (ANI)

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