India A show in Top End Series augurs well for future: Robin Singh

New Delhi, July 29 (UNI) Having exceeded expectations by winning four of the six matches in the recently concluded Top End Series in Australia, India A coach Robin Singh feels his team's performance in the tournament has showcased the bench strength of Indian cricket.

''I thought we not only matched our expectations, we exceeded them. We outplayed some of the teams. Our preparation was adequate,'' the former all-rounder told Cricinfo.

''We had a camp in Hyderabad, but more than that, we had sufficient time in Australia. More than the preparation in India, the time we spent in Australia was vital because we spent time playing cricket -- it wasn't a very short tour,'' he added.

Robin singled out Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma and S Badrinath among others for their performance in the series.

''Gautam did well, so did Rohit Sharma and Badrinath. Badri got four half centuries, and Tejinder Pal Singh and Parthiv Patel batted well in a few games. Venugopal Rao batted very, very well. He really looked like he had the most time. His hundred in the warm-up game against the Northern Territory Chief Minister's XI was special,'' Robin said.

The coach, however, said for players like Gambhir, who was dropped from the Indian team, it would take something more to get back into the senior team.

''Gambhir and (Robin) Uthappa still have to do a lot more to force themselves back into the national side. You have to be much more consistent; you have to be pushing guys with big hundreds against better opposition,'' he said.

Among the bowlers, Robin said RP Singh and Piyush Chawla carried the responsibility well after Siddarth Trivedi and Shib Shankar Paul, both fast bowlers, were ruled out due to injuries but added that the room for improvement would always be there.

''RP and Chawla bowled well and it was an outstanding performance from them. That said, Piyush needs to be a little more consistent.

With the experience he gets in such tournaments, he will only get better. He also needs to work on his legbreaks a little more,'' advised Robin.

Robin, however, felt the team lacked an offspinner, which, according to him, added the burden on skipper Venugopal Rao, who apart from his middle-order batting responsibility had to roll over his arm for bowling as well.

''That tells you the problem. We didn't have an offspinner, and Australia had five left-handers. We had to use him. In the four-day game, the first five batsmen were all left-handers. We had to somehow get an offspinner going. He bowled quite decently, I felt,'' he said.

Overall the coach was satisfied with the team's performance in the series and said his boys passed the test against some good opposition from Australia, New Zealand and Pakistan, who put up their best second string sides.

''Australia put their best side forward in this tournament, it was their second-strength side. They are all contracted cricketers.

The same for New Zealand - they had put up two teams, as a matter of fact, because most of their guys are playing for New Zealand.

''And then you had Pakistan, who had some young guys but most of them have played consistently for Pakistan, as well as in Abu Dhabi.

All three teams that we played were all international, successful cricketers who have played and some who are on the verge of playing again,'' he concluded.

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