Asking rate played on the minds of Indian batsmen: MS Dhoni

Brisbane: Outplayed by Australia in the seventh match of the Commonwealth Bank Series here on Sunday, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said that the asking rate played on the minds of the batsmen and instead of applying themselves early in the innings, they threw away their wickets in their quest to accelerate.

“Chasing that target (288) was always going to be difficult. We needed a good start. If we have wickets we can play in the middle overs but we lost early wickets and the Australians succeeded in putting pressure on us,” said Dhoni, adding that the Indian batsmen needed to give some respect to the bowlers initially which they failed to do.

“A lot happens at times in the middle. But when you are chasing a target like this you needed to give respect to the bowlers initially as losing wickets early in the innings is bound to add pressure. But asking run rate played on their minds and they played some bad shots,” said the skipper, adding that the Indian bowlers were done by the heat towards the end of the first innings.

“Last 10 overs weren’t good. The bowlers were bothered by heat. They were getting cramps. I guess our execution wasn’t good. I hope Gabba has good is bounce for bowlers and they will do well there,” added Dhoni.