Nagpur, March 24 (IANS) "It was pathetic", remarked Indian cricket control board vice president Shashank Manohar, reacting to the dismal performance of Team India against Sri Lanka in the World Cup match.

"It never looked like India were in the game, either when we played Bangladesh or Sri Lanka. It never looked like a spirited team effort", Manohar told IANS here.

Amplifying the cricket lovers' anguish, the vociferous Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) official said the players should have lived up to the expectations of millions of the countrymen. "But that sense of responsibility was never seen."

Emphasizing the need to change the mindset of selectors, Manohar said that players must not be selected on the basis of past glory.

"If that were a valid criterion, veterans like Don Bradman and Sunil Gavaskar would never have retired," he remarked.

The key BCCI functionary, whom the board president is known to lean on heavily in crucial matters including team selection, said more and more promising youngsters should be selected and given international exposure for two years before including them in the national side.

He hastened to add, however, that while preference to youngsters should be regarded as a broad guiding principle, no thumb rule could be laid down.

Another BCCI official, Rajan Nair, also called for inclusion of young blood in the team. "The policy (of selecting youngsters) has paid rich dividends wherever it was followed," Nair told IANS, citing the example of the current Sri Lankan team.

"The Sri Lankan selectors rested the veteran Marvan Attapattu and inducted Chamara Silva - and see how splendidly he performed," Nair pointed out.

"On the contrary, the experienced Sanat Jayasuriya and Mahela Jayawardene were lackluster though Muttiah Muralitharan bowled well."

According to Nair, who has worked both as BCCI team manager and media manager on foreign tours, Team India this time lacked all-rounders like Roger Binny, Kirti Azad and Mohinder Amarnath.

"Our fielding was our weakest link this time. Too much media hype was also a factor working against the side," he felt.