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 Southampton,
August 22: 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 cricket series opener.
Indian bowlers struggled to take wickets
after Dravid opted to bowl in overcast conditions as England
went on to score 288 for 2 and then the visitors were rolled
over for 184 to suffer 104-run defeat in the day and night match
yesterday.
"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," Dravid
said. (Agencies)
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