Dhoni: My wicket was the turning point

Dhoni wasn’t entirely critical of his colleagues, attributing the failures of the lower order to pressure and lack of experience. "That’s what pressure does to you," he said. "A few of them haven’t played a lot of international cricket and maybe it’s the first time in their careers that they were under some kind of pressure.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni said that pressure and inexperience led to the lower oder's downfall.

A visibly dejected M. S. Dhoni blamed himself for India's self-inflicted 25-run loss here on Wednesday, He said that the balance shifted in Australia's favour after his dismissal. “I think it was my wicket,” he said, when asked where it had gone wrong. “That’s what my role is in the team – to make sure we finish off the game well from that kind of position. So, I would say my wicket really was the turning point.”

Dhoni wasn’t entirely critical of his colleagues, attributing the failures of the lower order to pressure and lack of experience. “That’s what pressure does to you,” he said. “A few of them haven’t played a lot of international cricket and maybe it’s the first time in their careers that they were under some kind of pressure.

“At times, it seems that playing the big shot is the right thing to do, but slowly, with more games under your belt, you realize that is the time you have to carry on and build some kind of partnership. Hopefully, they’ll learn from this.”

Ravindra Jadeja was a letdown. Having walked in with 71 runs needed off 65 balls, the Saurashtra all-rounder did not demonstrate any urgency at all. He made little effort to keep strike, instead taking a single off the first ball of the 47th over and standing passively at the non-striker's end while Umesh Yadav played out five dot balls.

“The main batsman has to communicate, especially with the lower order, because it’s not easy out here,” the captain said. “He’s among the most experienced when it comes to the lower order. It’s not only about your batting. At the end of the day you also have to tell the people batting with you what the bowler may be doing at that point of time and what the batsman should be looking at.

“A bit more communication will definitely help, but I don’t think he is somebody who really speaks a lot, so that’s also something we have to take into account.”

Dhoni felt Ajinkya Rahane's injury had played a part in the outcome. “Yes, that was also a factor. He had a few stitches and had to take a local anaesthesia so we had to push him down the order so that he could get some kind of feeling back in his hand,” he said.