Indian cricket chief says time for harsh decisions

Utterly disappointed with the Indian cricket team's miserable performance in the World Cup, BCCI President Sharad Pawar today promised to take "harsh" decisions in future team selections with emphasis being put on merit and not past records.

Pawar also said that coach Greg Chappell's contract was till the end of the World Cup and it would now be reviewed.

The Indians lost their crucial league match against Sri Lanka on Friday to virtually crash out of the World Cup. The team now has to hope that Bermuda can pull off a miraculous win over Bangladesh to remain in the competition.

"Our team has disappointed me and the nation. The Indian Board is the only Board that provided maximum facilities to the players, and expectations from the team were quite high," he told PTI after India's loss to Sri Lanka.

"Losing or winning happens in the game but performance against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka was not at all up to the mark, especially the batting and fielding," he said.

The selection of the World Cup squad had come under flak with a few out of form players like Virender Sehwag and Irfan Pathan being picked in the team. Barring the match against minnows Bermuda, the famed batting line up failed to deliver the goods in the showpiece event.

Pawar was, however, not too critical of coach Greg Chappell saying he shared only a part of the responsibility of the debacle. "Definitely, there is a responsibility to train properly but at the same time one can only take horse to the water but cannot compel it to drink," he said.