Smarting from an 84-run defeat, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said on Tuesday the bowlers did not bowl well in the last 20 overs against Australia.
KOCHI: Smarting from an 84-run defeat, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said on Tuesday the bowlers did not bowl well in the last 20 overs against Australia and made it obvious that he was not happy with the performance of his frontline spinners.
After Dhoni had inserted Australia, India seized early initiative by reducing the visitors to eight for two in the fourth over and then 66 for three in the 16th over.
After that, Matthew Hayden (75) and Andrew Symonds (87) took over and down the order Brad Haddin's (87 not out) late flurry propelled Australia to a commanding 306 for six in 50 overs.
"The pacers bowled well and gave us a good start but I think we did not bowl well during 30 to 50 overs once again and that made a lot of difference. I think we need to improve on this aspect," a dejected Dhoni said after the match.
India went into the match with two specialist spinners but while Harbhajan Singh went wicketless and conceded 57 runs in his 10 overs, Ramesh Powar gave away 30 runs in his five overs without any success.
Asked if he was happy with the show by the spin twin, Dhoni's terse reply was "There is room for improvement."
The skipper, who scored a fighting 58 even as wickets kept tumbling around him, did not spare the batsmen either and said they needed to be more patient on the slow track.
"I think the batsmen needed to apply themselves a bit more. It was a wicket where one needed to do that to score runs", he said.
"Unfortunately, our batting did not click. Hopefully we will do that in the next match," Dhoni said.
Dhoni's opposite number Adam Gilchrist was ecstatic at getting a winning result after the frustrating wash-out in Bangalore.
"It was a solid performance. We had a wash-out in Bangalore and it is fantastic to get a result here. It was a solid performance and the only area we let ourselves down was the top-order batting.
"Me and (Brad) Hodge didn't score again but otherwise it was a fantastic display," he said.
Gilchrist said the pitch was exactly the way the Aussies had expected, which helped them adapt better.
"This wicket is a bit similar to what we expect in India. And that helped us. We won today but there are still five more games to go," he said.
Coming into the series with a depleted squad, Gilchrist said he was impressed with the way last-minute inclusions proved themselves.
"As I have said before, with injury comes opportunity and the way these guys, who came into the side because of injuries to others, have performed is just fantastic," he said.
The wicket-keeper batsman praised man of the match Brad Haddin, saying, "Haddin is a great example of how one needs to convert opportunities. He got his chance and proved himself."
On Ricky Ponting's injury status, Gilchrist said the regular skipper was on course for a comeback soon. Ponting has been out of action due to a hamstring strain.
"We are getting closer and closer," he said, when asked whether Ponting would return to the side for the third match in Chandigarh.
"I will be happy to have him back. We have got a couple of days to assess the situation," he added.
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