"We had a good start to the game, but we lost that a bit in the 10-over period between the 32nd and 42nd over when Clarke and Haddin had that partnership going. A couple of wickets at that stage would have helped us, but that did not happen," Dhoni said.
The 144-run partnership between centurion Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin helped Australia recover from 90 for four to 306 for six in 50 overs.
Dhoni said the bowlers need to learn to counter the minimal swing of Kookaburra white ball. "After 10-12 overs nothing happens with the Kookaburra white ball, we will have to work upon it," he said. To add to India’s woes, Sourav Ganguly suffered an injury and left the field and the Kolkatan did not come out to open the innings. Dhoni gave an update on the injury. "It is a hamstring injury, and on the morrow he will go for an MRI scan," he said.
But the opening spell by Sreesanth and Zaheer Khan made Dhoni a pleased man and the Jharkhandi said he would like to build on it in the coming matches.
"Actually, the wicket was not doing as much as it appeared in the initial overs. They had conceded for a few runs, but they came back well and picked up some wickets as well. And for Sreesanth, he has got a lot of retro aggression and that helped him to pick some wickets in the comeback spell," he said.
Dhoni, however, maintained the stance that the Kerala paceman had to learn to rein in the aggression on the field. "He is an international cricketer and he has to do it himself. There are certain guidelines in place and we need to play according to them. I am not a school principal to tell everything, some of them they will have to learn for themselves," he said.
There was a prolonged discussion between Dhoni and Australian stand-in skipper Adam Gilchrist before the umpires decided to call off the match. Later, Gilchrist explained that he was ready to lead his side out, but umpires and match referee deemed the conditions unsuitable.
While justifying the decision Dhoni said, "There is a difference between bravery and foolhardiness."
