'There was a lot of pressure on us since our spinners went for a few boundaries.'
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said he never thought his spinners, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, would have had such a "bad day", even as he praised Australia skipper Steve Smith and George Bailey for playing exceptionally well in the middle overs.
Ashwin (2-69 in 9 overs) and Jadeja (0-61 in 9 overs) together gave away 129 runs in 18 overs as India lost the opening ODI by five wickets.
"When I was speaking about sharing the load before the match, I was speaking about when the fast-bowlers don't have a very good day then I will have to use the spinner.
“I never thought it will be the spinners who will have a very bad day and the others will have to share that responsibility," Dhoni said, at the post-match press conference.
"I think the Australian batsmen batted really well since there was less assistance from the pitch. They played a few big shots but they rotated the strike really well, and they were getting more than six runs an over.
“There was a lot of pressure on us since our spinners went for a few boundaries," he explained.
He had a word of praise for the fast bowlers, though.
"The fast bowlers bowled well and gave us a good start with two wickets. That is the kind of start you need when you put runs on the board. But I think the spinners could have bowled better."
Dhoni had words of praise for left-arm seamer Barinder Sran, who got three wickets for 56 runs on his debut, but also did not forget to mention that the jury is still out on the Punjab youngster.
"I think he bowled really well. He was hitting the right areas, which I feel is important. Being a left-arm fast bowler, they have that slight advantage of the angle that goes away from the right-handed batsmen. I felt, overall, he bowled really well, but I won't make judgment based on one game.
"We'll also have to see in the coming games when there is pressure on him right from the start – if the batsmen are set, if he is put under pressure in the first circle regulation itself – then we'll have to see how he bowls.
"But, overall, if you just ask me, I think he bowled really well."
Dhoni praises 'hit-man' Rohit
Rohit Sharma's 171 not out also came in for praise. The skipper termed him a player who is always capable of getting big hundreds.
"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.
"When you are making runs you should ensure you make as many as you can -- that will benefit the team too. He is one of the players in the team who can play all the shots, exploit the field well, and hits effortlessly.
“He batted very well and it's important that after a good start he does well in the whole series and carries this form forward."
Asked if the duo could have accelerated earlier than they did, he replied: "That’s a difficult one. 310 is a very good score and they got it only in the last over. If we had bowled slightly better, we could have put more pressure on them but that was not the case.
"We can always debate if we could have been more aggressive, but we also have to think about what happens when we lose quick wickets. It was easier for the set batsmen to score runs and not easy for the newcomers.
“We could have pushed for those extra 15-20 runs but there was a chance we couldn’t have reached 300 also. Maybe in a different situation we could have batted differently but on a wicket like this I thought 310 was a very good score."
On the question of a lack of part-time bowling options, Dhoni said the team still lacks a proper seam-bowling all-round option which also meant that Rishi Dhawan's all-round abilities don't inspire the highest level of confidence in the team management.
"If you see our batsmen, the only other part-time bowler is Gurukeerat Singh Maan. I've not seen much him or how good he is as a bowler. He does bowl a little in the domestic circuit."
