Our boys lacked a bit of skill: Manoj Tiwary

Pune, Dec 19 (PTI) Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary today confessed that his batsmen "lacked a bit of skill" while facing the raw pace of Navdeep Saini during their innings and 26-run defeat to Delhi in a Ranji Trophy semi-final.

Saini cleaned up four Bengal batsmen with raw pace and a bit of movement. Talking about Saini, Tiwary's comments seemed like a back-handed compliment.

Asked if he has seen such a hostile spell in domestic cricket, Tiwary said, "Congratulations to Navdeep. He really bowled well but I think this spell will be much talked about because it was televised. I mean our bowlers have also bowled such spells, but they weren't aired live!"

"Yes he bowled quick and in right areas and as I said our boys lacked skill," the skipper said.

"We had a batting collapse and yes I must admit that there was some lack of skills while facing their bowling. Our batsmen should know the kind of situation they are in and the shots they can play," Tiwary said after the match.

Asked about Abhimanyu Easwaran perishing while playing the same shot, which was dropped during the previous delivery, Tiwary said that he will only improve.

"He is a matured kid. I don't know what was going through his mind at that point in time but he is still learning and will only get better. He will surely analyse what went wrong in execution," the skipper said.

Tiwary also defended his decision to play only three and half (B Amit is an all rounder) bowlers.

"I think we went with the right combination as Amit was bowling really well. Yes we had a left-arm spinner (Pradipta Pramanik) but since Delhi had so many left-handers, we thought Amir (Gani) would be more useful," he reasoned.