India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni put the blame on his batsmen and their lack of consistency as they wrapped up their tours of South Africa and New Zealand without a win on Tuesday.
“Our bowling performance was really good. Still we can improve our batting,” he said as India turned a match-winning situation into a draw in the second Test against New Zealand in Wellington.
It gave New Zealand the two-Test series 1-0. South Africa also beat India 1-0 in December.
And it also continued a disappointing run away from the sub-continent for India who have gone 14 away Tests without a win since beating the West Indies in Roseau in June, 2011.
Dhoni said he was trying to see positives and felt that India showed they were improving, but not enough.
“Both the wickets (in New Zealand) turned out to be going towards the flatter side, especially this (Wellington) one, it just kept getting better and better for batting.
“So I think looking at that our bowling performance was really good,” he said, reflecting on New Zealand’s match-saving second innings of 680 for 8 declared.
“You may say we have not really capitalised on the kind of starts we got when it came to our batting department but still there’s plenty of improvements. I’ll take that and move on to the next series.
“Maybe all the batsmen have got one good innings in the last four Test matches. If we can improve that and make it two or three innings, then the situation of the team really improves.”
India return home with a tenuous grip on second place in the international Test cricket rankings, one point ahead of Australia.
New Zealand have edged up from eighth to seventh-equal with the West Indies.
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Shergo Kurdi (am)
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Min Woo Lee
Todd Clements
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Matteo Manassero
Alfie Plant
Othman Al Mulla
Shaun Norris
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Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
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Ashes 2019 schedule
August 1-5: First Test, Edgbaston
August 14-18: Second Test, Lord's
August 22-26: Third Test, Headingley
September 4-8: Fourth Test, Old Trafford
September 12-16: Fifth Test, Oval
Padmaavat
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh
3.5/5
Pots for the Asian Qualifiers
Pot 1: Iran, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, China
Pot 2: Iraq, Uzbekistan, Syria, Oman, Lebanon, Kyrgyz Republic, Vietnam, Jordan
Pot 3: Palestine, India, Bahrain, Thailand, Tajikistan, North Korea, Chinese Taipei, Philippines
Pot 4: Turkmenistan, Myanmar, Hong Kong, Yemen, Afghanistan, Maldives, Kuwait, Malaysia
Pot 5: Indonesia, Singapore, Nepal, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Mongolia, Guam, Macau/Sri Lanka