Dhoni speaks out after Sydney Defeat

A dejected Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Friday blamed his batsmen and bowlers in equal measure for the humiliating loss in the second Test against Australia

"If you see the last two series, our performance in England and now here, we didn't put enough runs on the board. It's important to take 20 wickets but you also need the cushion of extra runs" 

"We haven't put enough runs. Even in England, not often we scored 300 runs. It doesn't allow bowlers to experiment a bit when the rival batsmen are set. They never got the cushion of those runs."

"We not only were not able to take wickets but also couldn't stop them from scoring briskly. After scoring 200 runs, when you see batsmen scoring freely, you get confused whether to get them our or to stop them from scoring briskly. 

"We need to come up with ways. If we can't break we should be able to contain so that we can wait for second new ball. But if they have already scored close to 300 runs, it becomes very difficult," he said. 

"We have tried to attack a lot with Zaheer because he is our main wicket-taking bowler,"

"We have done well in patches. We have got opposition out. In the last innings, we have seen we can score 400 runs. Now we need to do it together. Rather than doing it in departments, we need to do it as a team," he added. 

"It's wrong to blame everything on an individual. It's not that a coach has changed and so performance has dipped. Once you go in to bat, then there is a contest only between two individuals. It's important the team to perform and hunt in packs," he said. 

"There may be few individuals who would like to spend more time on the nets. I personally feel if you switch off, it distresses you and you come back in a positive state of mind, I feel rather than spend more time on the field, you need to spend time off the field in recreational activity and get some time off cricket."

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