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Asia Cup

Team India's capitulation in the STAR Cricket Asia Cup final has shocked former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga.

Ranatunga, who is now the chief of Sri Lanka Cricket, told an Indian daily: "India's performance left me shocked, not surprised."

The 1996 World Cup winning captain said at the start of the final he thought both the teams had a 50-50 chance.

"I must confess though I was surprised when (Indian skipper Mahendra Singh) Dhoni decided to field. I know that some of the biggest names don't like the pressure of chasing (in a final).

"Also, India would have known that we would field two spinners. The National Stadium wickets had become slower and had begun to turn as well," he added.

He heaped praises on centurion Sanath Jayasuriya who kept his nerves even as he lost partners at the top of the innings.

"Even at 66 for four, we kept our nerves. What amazed me is that the Indians kept bowling to Sanath Jayasuriya's strength. He's not new to the sport and they should have been looking to exploit his weaknesses. Instead, they kept feeding Sanath and allowed him to cut and hoof and go for the lofted drives. I quite liked Ishant Sharma, but he bowled two good balls and then four bad ones," he said.

Ranatunga was surprised with the Indian batsmens' failure to play spinner Ajantha Mendis.

"The batsmen just couldn't pick Mendis, when they're supposed to be good against spinners," he said.

India crashed to a 100-run defeat on Sunday at Karachi. Chasing 274 to win, India were bowled out for 173 with newcomer Mendis wrecking the top order with a six-wicket haul.