Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said it was his wicket that was the turning point of the match as India lost to Australia by 25 runs despite being in the driver's seat at one stage at the Manuka Oval. A commander is expected to shield his troops from criticism, but here he was defending the indefensible foolishness of a lower-middle order that simply lacked the tactical acumen to see the team through. (Also Read: At a loss: From 277 for 1 to 323 all out) Watch Video: Despite Twin Tons India Suffer 4th Straight Loss To Australia India were chasing 349 and were in a decent position to pull off their first win on Australian soil when India lost Shikhar Dhawan and Dhoni in one over. “If you see specifically, that’s what my role is in the team – to make sure we finish off the game well from that kind of position. So I would say my wicket really was the turning point. According to the role and responsibility everybody has, that specifically is my role,” he owned up. Dhoni's wicket and Ajinkya Rahane’s injury had opened the gates for Australia, and none of the lower-middle order batsmen displayed any intent to bail out the Indian team. Gurkeerat Singh Mann was sent ahead of Ravindra Jadeja, but after hitting one four, he attempted a sloppy sweep and was caught by Shaun Marsh. Rishi Dhawan slammed one four over long-off to Kane Richardson and was later caught at deep cover by David Warner. “A few of them haven’t played a lot of international cricket. At times it seems when you are batting in the middle that playing the big shot is the right thing to do, but slowly, with more games under your belt, you realise that is the time you have to carry on and build some kind of a partnership. Hopefully, they’ll learn from this,” he said, protectively. Needless shots However, questions need to be asked of what exactly Gurkeerat and Rishi Dhawan were trying to do, getting out the way they did. Given that Manish Pandey and R Ashwin were sitting out to make space for the two in the Playing XI, the two dismissals of the newcomers need to be revisited to guage their readiness to be fielded in an international side at this level. Gurkeerat is a batsman who bowls off-spin, and was promoted to No 5. Facing Nathan Lyon, Mann has hit the first ball for four. With 67 needed off 60 and Lyon under the pump, Mann attempts a slog sweep off a flat delivery from the the offspinner, an entirely unnecessary shot pointing to an utter lack of poise or understanding of a percentage shot for that situation. Then there is Dhawan — the medium-pacer who bats lower down, and fancies himself an all-rounders tag. Third ball of the Richardson over, he jumps out and flat-bats a shortish delivery past mid-off. Emboldened, he tries it again two balls later, this time straight to the fielder parked at extra cover boundary. "I have said this before, we are very used to getting complete cricketers. We don't want to groom anyone — if this guy's not good, let's get rid of him and if that guy is not good, get rid of him too. When these players go out and return to the team, the pressure on them will be greater. There is not much scrutiny anywhere as there is in India. You have to look at all these things. " Dhoni was asked point-blank if the duo didn't have the stomach for an international outing. Dhoni smiled and said he'd answer it though "it’s not a positive question". The final blame though in this botched chase will fall on the aloof Ravindra Jadeja, the man who ended with an unbeaten 24 off 27. The Saurashtra lad submitted to the fate that those around him were scripting for the team. Expected to cajole partners into keeping their heads, Jadeja would go coy on date-night. The lionheart who'd pulled off a heist at Auckland two years ago, would go into a shell and never emerge, content to dawdle on and stay unbeaten.
