 England played a perfect one-day game: Dravid
22nd Aug 2007 14:20 IST
Agencies
Defending his decision to field first, captain Rahul Dravid has said India were done in because of their "all round disappointing performance" while England played "a perfect one-day game" in the one-day series opener.
Indian bowlers struggled to take wickets after Dravid opted to bowl in overcast conditions as England went on to score 288/2 and then the visitors were rolled over for 184 to suffer 104-run defeat in the day and night match at The Rose Bowl in Southampton on Tuesday.
"I thought there would be a bit more for the bowlers in the wicket," Dravid said after the match.
"Credit to the opposition. They played a perfect one-day game. They really batted well, got two guys who went on and got a hundred. It's exactly what you want. They then took wickets up front with the new ball," he said.
"The partnership between Ian Bell and Alastair Cook (178) was a good one. They really put us under pressure."
Dravid said it was a problem to find the right balance in bowling attack in the absence of a genuine all-rounder.
"For us, it's a bit of an issue because of the lack of a genuine all-rounder," he said.
He also said his players needed to improve their fielding and be more careful in their running between the wickets.
"It's an area we've got to try to improve. On big grounds like this, we are not overnight going to get strong arms and big throws.
"Not making stupid mistakes running between the wickets, that's something we can definitely control and work on.
"It's been a disappointing performance all round but there are six games to go and hopefully we'll bounce back."
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