Indian skipper Rahul Dravid identified sloppy bowling in the middle overs as the primary reason for their 104-run defeat to England in the first one-dayer at the Rose Bowl on Tuesday.
The Indian bowlers succeeded in shackling the English batsmen in the first 20 overs, giving away just 88 runs. But after that, they lost the plot as the hosts dominated the middle overs, amassing 122 in the next 20 overs.
“We did not take wickets upfront, and we also conceded a lot of runs in the middle overs. We bowled well in the first 20 overs, but credit to the English batsmen. They did not lose wickets at that stage and that helped them in the middle overs. Our spinners and part-time bowlers could not stop them,” Dravid said.
Dravid said the failure to get off to a good start also hampered India. "The score England had made was very good. If you want to chase such a big total, you need a good start and we lost four wickets early on to make things difficult for us.
“We were outplayed and credit to the opposition. They really batted well, two guys went on to score hundreds. That is exactly what you want. Then they bowled well up front with the new ball, which is important in these conditions."
The Banglaorean defended his decision to bowl first on winning the toss.
"Initially, I thought there was a bit more in the wicket. In fact there was a bit, but it was slow. In these conditions we thought Yuvi, Sourav and Sachin could do the job for us. It is a question of getting the balance right, it is a bit of an issue for us because we lack a genuine all-rounder and it is case of mix and match here.
“In these conditions, it was too cold for the spinners to grab the ball and we thought retaining one spinner and giving the ball to Sachin and Sourav was the way to go," he said.
Dravid said the team management would mull over the team combination. “Definitely, we will rethink our side, batting order and everything. When you don't perform well, we need to look at our side and think how to improve performance."
He also stressed on the importance to work on fielding and running between the wickets in the remaining matches.
“We have been working on it for quite some time now and the guys have put in some hard yards.
“You are not going to get strong arms and throws overnight. It is an area whe-re we have to improve by small percentages.
“Running between the wickets is something that we can work upon. Certainly this is a disappointing performance, and hopefully, we can bounce back with six games to go," he said.