India captain Rahul Dravid has expressed concern over his side's batting form following Thursday's three-wicket defeat to holders West Indies in a Champions Trophy Group A match. "I think in the final analysis we fell 25 to 30 runs short," he said.
"It was disappointing that none of the top four or five batsmen could go on to get a 70 or 80 which, I think, would have helped reach a winning score." The defeat left hosts India needing a win over world champions Australia on Sunday for a place in the semi-finals of the competition.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni top scored against the West Indies with a feisty 51 late in the innings to help India reach 223-9 in their 50 overs. But a half century by an Indian batsman, barring Sachin Tendulkar, has become a rare commodity of late.
Former players have criticised the team for their poor displays, blaming coach Greg Chappell's experiments with the batting order.
India lost a one-day series in the West Indies 4-1 and failed to reach the final of a tri-series tournament in Malaysia last month. Chappell's shuffling of middle-order batsmen Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif, and the promotion of paceman Irfan Pathan bore results last year.
But the coach came under fire for persistently opening with skipper Dravid and pushing dynamic opener Virender Sehwag down the order in the tri-series. Although Sehwag has regained his place at the top of the order in the Champions Trophy, India's batting in their two matches has been patchy so far. The 17 Sehwag made against West Indies on Thursday was his highest score in his last six innings and he is not the only one battling with form.