Indian cricket team returns after Asia Cup ouster

Indias cricket team returned home on Wednesday as they failed to reach the final of the Asia Cup, which is being played in Bangladesh.Batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma returned to the west-coat city of Mumbai, to a lukewarm response from fans.Tendulkar said that the series, where India, Pakistan and Bangladesh had tied on points, had been a very competitive one.I thought overall it was good cricket, but all three teams who have won (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh), have won two matches each. Its been a competitive tournament, he said.Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka in the match that was played on Tuesday (March20).The points being tied, India had been edged out by Pakistan and Bangladesh due to a low net run rate.Tendulkar also spoke about his 100th international century, saying that the year-long drought preceding it had been a learning experience for him, even this late in his career.It was a difficult phase. All of us had to wait for it for a long time. It was not easy, and something which everyone is made to realise, including me, that even after scoring 99 hundreds, to score another one is not easy, he said.Other members of the team, including captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, vice captain Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina arrived in New Delhi.Pakistan and Bangladesh will face off in the Asia Cup final on Thursday (March 22).Indias ouster from the tournament is the second consecutive instance this year. Last month, they were edged out by Sri Lanka and Australia in the triangular Commonwealth Bank series down under.Ironically, Indias last games in both series involved the Men in Blue masterfully chasing down gigantic totals.On February 28 in Hobart, Australia, the Indian team chased 321 runs against Sri Lanka, on the back of a brilliant 133 runs scored by Virat Kohli.Kohli once again rose to the occasion, in Mirpur, Bangladesh, on March 18, scoring 183 to help India chase down a target of 330 set by arch-rivals Pakistan.