Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni feels the failure of middle-order batsmen to capitalise on the good start provided by openers led to the five-wicket loss against Pakistan in the first Twenty20 encounter here.
Dhoni said India loss of wickets at regular intervals, after being in a strong position at 75 without loss in 10 overs, hurt the team badly.
“The batsmen got out trying to play big shots. We could have easily scored 200 if we had applied ourselves,” Dhoni complained.
On the umpire not giving a decision in India’s favour when Ishant Sharma had got Shoaib Malik (57 not out) caught off a ball which climbed a tad above shoulder level, Dhoni said, “It was a fair decision but I am not sure if you are allowed to refer it (to the third umpire) or not.”
Asked about R Ashwin’s omission from the playing eleven, Dhoni said, “Since we had three seamers we wanted to give Jadeja a go. At the same time we had other resources as well.”
Pakistan skipper Mohammed Hafeez said the team played according to a plan and targeted India’s part—time spinners —— Yuvraj Singh and Ravindra Jadeja —— who are not world—class bowlers.
