We let ourselves down with fielding, says Dhoni

MELBOURNE: The worst fears have come true for skipper MS Dhoni. Playing Australia in Australia is the most challenging task, and not many are surprised with the way India have been taken apart in all three games. What will hurt him more is the fact that the setback here has come at the back of two big series losses in the subcontinent.

Since reaching the semifinals of the World Cup, little has gone right for India in one-day cricket. Dhoni first saw the team lose in Bangladesh, before succumbing to South Africa at home. Although he showed signs of returning to form with a nine-ball 23 cameo on Sunday, there is no denying the scrutiny his captaincy will face after India surrendered the series in the first three games itself.

On Sunday, there was hope that India would take control of the game, but somehow they fell short. The team combination was debatable too. It was the first venue which offered some assistance to spinners, and the Australia batsmen would not have liked to face R Ashwin and Jadeja bowling in tandem.

Picking Rishi Dhawan was understandable but Gurkeerat Mann over the seasoned Ashwin in such a crucial game was a strange choice. Mann did experience the nerves when he put down a straightforward catch at mid-on off Aaron Finch.

Dhoni dodged the question on his position as captain in the wake of a string of poor results, instead explaining his team’s shortcomings. “There will be conflict of interest if I start reviewing my performance,” he said before continuing, “It’s not about the leader, (Today) I’m there, somebody else will come later. What is more important is to see the areas we are lacking in, the departments which have to improve when it comes to shorter formats. I feel it’s the bowling department and we have kept asking the same question whenever we have come outside. The fast bowlers, how at times they give away those easy boundaries… that in turn puts a lot of pressure.”

He admitted it was poor fielding which proved to be the difference. “We did let ourselves down with our fielding. The best fielders in our group actually left quite a few deliveries. You accumulate those 15 runs or maybe more then the turnaround could have happened. I felt in this game, it was the fielding that let us down.”

Debutant Gurkeerat Mann dropped a sitter at the start and the ground fielding was atrocious. Rohit Sharma was guilty of diving over a ball at covers to let through a four, Ishant Sharma embarrassed himself and the team by letting a ball through his legs. There were guffaws in the stands when Shikhar Dhawan’s attempted pullback rolled into the boundary.”