At the receiving end of an 84-run battering at the hands of Australia in the second one-dayer, Dhoni said the inability to strangulate the Aussies in the last two-fifths of their batting stint, as well as the lack of partnerships in the Indian middle-order, had cost the home side dear.

"We have been starting off very well with the new ball in almost all matches," said Dhoni. "We have been getting early wckets. But the middle overs is something we need to work on -- between overs 30 and 50. That is a concern area. The spinners did get some assistance, though the ball was only turning slowly. But they looked to be aggressive against our spinners, and they got away with it.

"As for our batting, we didn't click as a unit despite getting off to a good start. We are said to be the best players of spin in the world, but by the time their spinners came on, we had lost wickets. They crowded the circle so we couldn't rotate the strike, and it was difficult for us to go for big shots because there weren't too many batsmen to follow. It was very crucial to have a partnership in the middle. Australia had those stands through Hayden, Symonds and Haddin. It wasn't that we bowled badly, but they batted really well. It we had had a partnership or two in the middle, it would have been fairly easy."

Asked if the Australians were ahead of India in terms of strategy, Dhoni replied, "Performancewise, they are ahead of us right now. They bowled well, they stuck to their plans and executed them well. And their field placements were good, because the bowlers bowled to their fields. There is nothing you can do as captain if the bowlers bowl all over the place and not to their fields."

Dhoni reiterated the need to rotate players to keep them fresh ahead of what is a long, long season. "If you keep playing in places where the weather is similar to what it is here and the conditions are extreme, you need to rotate players, otherwise they will break down," the Indian skipper observed. "Our practice sessions are also pretty intense, and we need to take care of the players. For instance, today, RP Singh was rested and not dropped. He has been the pick of the bowlers in our last few series. We must look at it positively. He was rested, not dropped."