Poor batting cost us - Dhar

Rumeli Dhar, the Indian women's allrounder, has blamed the team's batting for their failure in the World Twenty20 in England. India beat Pakistan and Sri Lanka to reach the semi-final where they struggled to 93 for 9 and lost to New Zealand by 52 runs.

"Conditions were absolutely wonderful for batting, and given that our bowlers did really well. But our batting performance hurt us," the Indian Express quoted Dhar as saying. "I think the 140-odd against New Zealand was quite chaseable and I also take responsibility for that.

"It's astonishing, but all our batsmen struggled. I played at two-down, five-down, but I was taking too much of pressure and nothing changed the course. But every team goes through this phase, even England and Australia." Medium-pacer Dhar was India's leading wicket-taker along with legspinner Priyanka Roy with six from four games. Roy's average of 7.83 was far lower than Dhar's 11.16 yet Dhar was the only Indian in ICC's World Twenty20 squad named after the tournament.

Dhar was surprised by her inclusion and said also said it was surprising that no Indian men had made it to the corresponding squad. "I saw it on a television channel and it was really surprising. I don't know how the ICC judges it. There must be something else they would have factored in."

Her team-mate Reema Malhotra said Dhar was probably included because of her consistency, while Roy, who was India's leading wicket-taker in the 50-over World Cup, had taken five of her six wickets in a match against minnows Pakistan.

Though England are now champions in all three formats of the game, Dhar said it wasn't because they were far better than the rest. "Earlier Australia were at the top and now it's England … just because they won or have been winning recently. Anything can happen in Twenty20 and Pakistan men's team returning with the trophy is an example. It's just a matter of time. Unfortunately we failed every time."