We failed to win mental battle against Oz: Dhoni

Zeecric Bureau

New Delhi: After courting defeat in the 5th ODI from the jaws of victory, Indian captain M S Dhoni said that India could not win the mental battle against Australia in Hyderabad.

"I don`t think it was the talent part. I think it was the mental part, where you know you can play a big shot and you back yourself to do that," Dhoni said. "At times you just go through the motions, you don`t know if such a shot is needed or not."

Dhoni also said that India could not come up with one last minute knock-out punch which might win them the close game. "We came very close, but the one last effort that we needed as a team we couldn`t put in”, Dhoni said after the match.

Dhoni also conceded the fact that dropping so many catches is one of the reasons behind India’s downfall. “We dropped three catches. One of them was tough," Dhoni said.

"We lost too many wickets in the middle order. Myself, Gauti [Gautam Gambhir], Yuvraj [Singh], we got out pretty quickly. We could have done better. Though it was a very good track to bat, you still need a serious effort to get close to 350. If we had stopped them to 330 or 325, we would have had a better chance.”

"I am not saying they could have kept them to 270, but even if they could have kept them down to 320, it would have been a completely different game. On these wickets, when there is no seam or swing, experience comes in."

Dhoni also refused to blame Ravindra Jadeja who again ran himself out foolishly at the fag end of the match that hurt the Indian run chase. "He is a youngster, don`t take that away from him," Dhoni said. "When he plays more and more games, he will learn. It is tough, but he shouldn`t be pointed out. He is doing the job for us. He is bowling well, he is a great fielder. He is learning the art of batting at this level. As long as he keeps learning from every game, it is fine."

Dhoni showered effusive praises on Sachin Tendulkar for playing such a valiant knock. “He [Tendulkar] made such a big effort. Such a big score. He was the one man who kept us in the game. We would have loved to see him hit the winning runs. But that was not to be."