London, Sept 10: Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni blamed the profligacy of his bowlers in the initial overs as the prime reason for his team's defeat in the third ODI here on Friday.
“The first 10 overs were crucial. We gave away too many runs. Otherwise spinners would have had a few more runs to play with,” said Dhoni after the first 10 overs of England innings, cost 60 runs to the Indian team.
“It's not the first time it has happened to us. There was a phase when we suffered from the same malaise. If the rivals have to chase more than six runs per over, it becomes difficult for them but we gave away too many runs upfront.”
Dhoni didn't blame the weather much for his team's defeat although he did say the spinners got less turn after the interruption.
“It was a mixed thing. It gave an advantage that England had only 15 runs less to chase. The disadvantage was that the ball became wet and it affected the turn for the spinners. The fast bowlers were handicapped too as the ball was coming nicely on the bat.”
Well as Dhoni himself and man-of-match Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin batted, the Indian skipper lamented the lack of runs from the top order.
“In our innings, only lower order made runs. As a team, we need to click together. I thought we were 30-40 runs short.
We were not able to put par score on the board. The first spell by England bowlers was very good.” PTI
