India captain Ajaykumar Reddy not satisfied with silver

The Indian men’s blind team members with their IBSA World Games silver medals in Birmingham on Saturday. Pic/CABI

India's blind team captain Ajaykumar Reddy admitted that his team failed to handle the pressure against Pakistan in the IBSA (International Blind Sports Federation) World Games final in Birmingham on Saturday. Pakistan beat India by eight wickets with 35 balls to spare to clinch the gold medal at Edgbaston.

Opting to bat, India rode on opener DR Tompaki's 57-ball 76 (11x4) and R Ramesh's unbeaten 48 off 29 balls (8x4) to post 184-3 in the allotted 20 overs. In reply, a sloppy bowling effort saw the Indians conceding as many as 42 extras, as Pakistan convincingly chased the target with M Salman and B Munir remaining unbeaten on 48 and 41 respectively.

"We tried our best to clinch gold, but succumbed to pressure in the final and had to be satisfied with the silver medal. We gave 42 extra runs, off which 28 were wides. It's a disappointing performance and we are not happy with this silver medal," Reddy told mid-day from Birmingham on Sunday.

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The Indian blind team have been winners of the T20 World Cup in 2012, 2017 and 2022, and ODI World Cup champions in 2014 and 2018. "There is no point in giving excuses, but our bowling was not good enough. I don't want to blame individuals for this debacle. The opponents handled the pressure far better than us," Reddy added.

Meanwhile, India's blind team coach and chief selector John David blamed the seniors in the team for the poor show. He also questioned the umpiring. "Most of the players in this team are quite experienced players and they needed to shoulder the responsibility. However, they failed to perform in the decider. Even the umpiring quality is questionable. A few decisions like no-ball calls also went against us," David said.