Perth: Despite the scintillating century (171 not out) from Rohit Sharma that helped India go past 300 and fast bowlers giving two early breakthroughs, the Men-In-Blue lost to Australia in their opening match of the ODI series in Perth on Tuesday. Giving credit to the Australians for their stupendous win, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said that Steve Smith and George Bailey played exceptionally well in the middle overs to snatch victory from India.

“I think the Australian batsmen batted really well. They played a few big shots but also rotated the strike really well. They kept on getting were getting more than six runs an over. There was a lot of pressure on us since our spinners went for a few boundaries,” Dhoni said adding that he never thought Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja would have such a bad day on the field.

“I never thought it will be the spinners who will have a very bad day and the others (fast bowlers) will have to share that responsibility,” Dhoni said at the post-match press conference. Ashwin (2/68 in nine overs) and Jadeja (0/61 in nine overs) together gave away 129 runs in 18 overs.

However, Dhoni was all in praise for the fast bowlers who gave India two early breakthroughs. “The fast bowlers bowled well and gave us a good start. Barinder Sran bowled really well. He was hitting the right areas. But I won't make judgment based on one game.”

Dhoni also praised Rohit Sharma for his fantastic ton, saying, “Whenever a batsman plays a long innings, the most important thing there is how he carries on once he gets to 50 and then how he carries on once he gets to his century. Most of the times when Rohit crosses 100-110, he scores quite big and that's always good.”