NEW DELHI: India’s sports fraternity had nothing but praise for the efforts of Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s World Cup team, who bowed out of the showpiece on Thursday with a 95-run semi-final loss to Australia.

Cricket great Sachin Tendulkar led the support on social media with former captain Sunil Gavaskar, all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, tennis player Sania Mirza and Olympic gold medal-winning shooter Abhinav Bindra among those adding their admiration for the Indian team.

“Well played in the ICC World Cup Team India,” Tendulkar tweeted. “A tough game today and a loss is always difficult to handle. But you have played some terrific cricket throughout and all the fans have enjoyed watching you,” the tweet added.

“Congratulations to Australia for a convincing win. Steve Smith’s hundred, Finch’s support to him and a strong finish by Johnson made the difference,” Tendulkar wrote in a separate tweet.

Gavaskar said the toss had proved crucial, with Australia electing to bat first and setting a stiff target of 329.

“The toss was always going to be vital, more so for India than Australia,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for The Times of India. “And when Michael Clarke won it and opted to bat, India needed to restrict the Australians to a score of under 300 if they had a chance of getting in the final.”

Ex-Test batsman V.V.S. Laxman defended the Indian team’s inability to restrict four-time champions Australia.

“The Indian bowlers, except for Ashwin, did not have the experience of playing in big matches,” Laxman told the NDTV news channel. “Overall, the Indians handled the pressure well but Australia bowled better in the match.”

Yuvraj, who was named player of the series at the 2011 World Cup, praised Australia for outplaying India, who had won all their seven matches heading into the semifinal.

“Sad for my boys, but Australia has played some outstanding cricket in this (World Cup and) deserves to be in the final,” Yuvraj wrote on his Twitter page.

Sania said she was proud of the way the team played throughout the tournament.

“We can’t win everything, every time. ... I am Proud of our team and the way they played with pressure throughout. ... better luck next time,” she tweeted.

Bindra described India’s performance in the tournament as “brave” and also criticised a section of the media which mocked India’s loss. “These extreme reactions reinforce the fact that our country has no sports culture. We have a long way to go to become a sporting nation,” Bindra tweeted.

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2015

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