Chetan Sharma bats for Chappell, blames players

Lucknow, Dec 11 (UNI) Former Indian medium pacer Chetan Sharma defended team India coach Greg Chappell saying it was not his fault and its the players who should perform on the ground.

Defending the Indian coach, Mr Sharma said ''Chappell is doing his job sincerely but team India as a whole is not performing according to merit. Team's performance during the just concluded one day series against South Africa was very poor and now, it was high time to sort out the shortcomings of their respective performance.'' Commenting on Ganguly's comeback in Team India, he added his inclusion in the team would strenghten the batting, ''Ganguly is a good player and he has proved his worth and it was a lean patch that cost him dear.'' Praising Australian skipper Ricky Ponting, he said Ponting's aggressiveness on the field is the reason behind his success, adding ''this phenomena is yet to be seen in Rahul Dravid's captaincy.'' ''Our fast bowlers are performing will but the performance of Irfan Pathan is not upto the mark and he should rest, while Zaheer's comeback is a boon,'' he pointed.

He said lack of grassy wickets in India was the main reason behind the failure of medium pacers in foreign pitches.

Defending some other senior players, who were not performing well, he said that there was no comparision of UP's lad with the senior players, saying there were vast differences in their abilities.

UNI KN ATI SAM RN1853