Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni blamed the early loss of wickets for the crushing defeat against Australia in the seventh match of the One-day International tri-series here Sunday.
Dhoni(56) for the third time in the series had to come to India’s rescue after Australia set a stiff target of 288. India lost Gautam Gambhir (5), Sachin Tendulkar (3), Virat Kohli (12) and Rohit Sharma (0) in no time to put the side in a precarious position.
“With that kind of score you needed a brisk start. They got early breakthroughs and that put pressure on us. Our bowlers were affected by the heat, they were cramping so it affected their execution,” Dhoni said in the match presentation.
India were bowled out for just 178 runs giving Australia the top position in the table as well as a bonus point to take it four clear of second placed India.
Sachin Tendulkar's aim to score his hundredth international ton may have to wait as he may be rested for the upcoming one-day international match against Sri Lanka in Perth.The move comes as a part of India's rotation policy to rest either of the top three batsmen at some point during the triangular series, The Age reports.Tendulkar has been stranded on 99 international centuries for almost 11 months now, with the pressure building on him as each chance passes him by.Virender Sehwag, who was rested from the opening one-dayer and will return for the Perth match, said the rotation policy would ensure players remained as fresh as possible following a hectic tour of Australia.
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