Defeated India lack self-belief: Kapil Dev

Former skipper Kapil Dev has led the criticism after India lost the first test against England, blaming the team's lack of self-belief and weak bowling.

"It has been 16 years since we won abroad," said Dev.

"I feel very sad. We have the capability. But we have to believe in ourselves.

"We also lack in the bowling department," he told reporters.

India's last Test series win outside South Asia dates back to 1985-86 in England, when Dev was captain.

Indian hopes of ending the drought suffered a setback on Monday when they capitulated by 170 runs on a perfect batting track at Lord's despite the absence of three mainline England pacemen due to injury.

Brittle top-order batting and Sachin Tendulkar's failure -- he made 16 and 12 -- saw India dismissed for 221 in the first innings, before adding 397 in the second after being set an improbable victory target of 568.

Dev, though, said Indian bowlers have struggled to dismiss sides twice in away Tests in recent years. He also said the country had failed to live up to its tradition of producing quality spinners.

Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly confessed after the Lord's defeat he should have included off-spinner Harbhajan Singh alongside leg-break bowler Anil Kumble on a dry pitch.

POOR APPLICATION

Chief selector Chandu Borde, meanwhile, blamed "lack of application" and said a re-think on selection was needed.

"Losing like that is bad. They (batsmen) must try to stay at the wicket for longer periods," he said.

The Indian media also highlighted the top-order batting while praising all-rounder Ajit Agarkar, whose maiden Test century narrowed the margin of defeat in the first match of the four-Test series.

"Stubborn Agarkar fails to prevent the inevitable," ran the Asian Age headline while The Indian Express added: "Agarkar the smile in the same old sob story".

The widely-circulated Times of India daily focused on Tendulkar's batting on its front page.

The report quoted former players saying he was succumbing to the pressure of Indian expectations.

It quoted former England captain Michael Atherton as saying: "No other player suffers so much from pressure of expectation. It must be remembered that England have bowled very well to him."

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