Objective achieved, says Laxman

The India A skipper VVS Laxman was all smiles with the performance of his team in the three day encounter against the Australians which ended in a draw in Nagpur on Monday.

Laxman told CricInfo that as a captain his objective was not to let the Australians get on top early on the tour. He said that if the visitors had a good game here, it would have boosted their confidence. Now they would be a bit cautious in their approach.

Laxman said he was happy with the way Sadagopan Ramesh played. "I am happy to see him score runs and it's good for him. He is stroking the ball well. He did miss out on a few games before this, so it's nice to see him play well here."

On his own batting, Laxman said, "I was a bit disappointed not to get my century after having settled down so well." The skipper was pleased with the way his spinners bowled but was disappointed with the few dropped catches.

Australian coach John Buchanan said that he was disappointed with the batting in the first innings. He added that Colin Miller's bowling performance was encouraging but he expected a bit more from his medium pacers as well. On Tendulkar, Buchanan said he was an exceptionally talented player and when he came in to bat "it's a different ball game altogether."

The coach added he was happy to see Kasprowicz and Gillespie do well with the bat. He said it was a good sign to see the lower order make runs.