Dhoni blames it on top-order failure

After a 30-run defeat to Australia in the first Twenty20, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said on Wednesday that top-order batsmen needed to fire for India to register wins consistently.

“If a couple of the top-order batsmen had stayed for longer, it would have been easier for the new batsman coming in to play their shots with someone at the other end. But it didn’t happen for us today,” Dhoni told reporters.

The Jharkhand player won the toss for the first time during this tour, and he defended the decision to field first.  “In England, we didn’t win any tosses and it rained in the second innings and our bowling suffered because of that. This is the first toss I won over here, and with the rain forecast I thought we would chase.

“170-odd runs was a good score to chase, if the wicket remained the same. In the second innings, it started to turn and grip and the odd ball was bouncing more than the normal delivery. It was difficult,” he said. There was a 20-minute rain delay after the 13th over of Australian innings.

Dhoni patted debutant Rahul Sharma for coming up with a good spell, and also explained the logic behind fielding three spinners.

“We wanted to pick Rahul because he did really well for us in the IPL, and if you see his
bowling analysis he did the job he was supposed to do. As far as the decision of playing 3-2 was concerned I think all the spinners did well.

“I think Jadeja was a bit expensive, but in the normal scenario we always play him because he gives us the balance when needed. The part-timers also contributed. Raina bowled two very good overs, but he was expensive in the third one. Overall, it went our way because in between we were able to pull the game back,” Dhoni said.

Australian skipper George Bailey, who made his debut in this match, said he was quite happy with the way his captaincy and the match went. “I am quite satisfied with the way the guys came up with their performances, and happy to see our decisions fetching the right results. Wade played a brilliant innings. Hopefully, we can finish the job in Melbourne, and that’s the beauty of the game. We still need to work hard and need to find a way to dismiss Sehwag for a second time,” Bailey said.

Wade, who made an aggressive 73, said he was happy to contribute to the team’s success. “It’s quite satisfying to come up the order and play that kind of innings. But more importantly I was able to contribute to team’s victory,” he said.