March 18, 2003	Tuesday	Muharram 14, 1424

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

DURBAN, March 17: Kenya’s unexpected success in reaching the World Cup semifinals has left coach Sandeep Patil feeling nostalgic.

“It has yet to really sink in for the boys,” Patil said on Monday as Kenya prepared for Thursday’s semi-final against India.

Patil played for India when they upset favourites West Indies in the 1983 World Cup final in England.

“Kenya reaching the semifinals has given me the same feeling I got when we reached the final in 1983,” he said.

“Then, our performance never really sank in until I hit the winning run against England in the semifinal,” he said. “I feel the same now.”

Patil scored 51 not out as India beat England by six wickets before beating West Indies by 43 runs in the final.

Kenya are the first non-Test country to reach the World Cup semifinals, beating Test sides Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh on the way.

Patil was happy the team had done itself justice in their Super Six defeats to India and Australia but conceded they had not come close to winning.

“We gave them a scare, yes. But we were never close to beating them. We need to play more aggressively for that.”

Patil also criticised former India team mate turned television commentator Navjot Sidhu for criticising his team.

He said Sidhu had forecast that the top World Cup teams would “lick Kenya like a candy.”

Patil added: “This is not the first time Sidhu has done this. When the South African board invited us for a tri-series (in 2001), he said we didn’t deserve to play. It is good Kenya have proved Sidhu wrong.”

Captain Steve Tikolo said Kenya’s semifinal berth had been hard-earned. “This is no fairy tale. It is all hard work which has paid off.”—Reuters