Top-order batting let us down: MS.Dhoni

India's string of defeats away from home continues . The side has now lost 8 Tests, 3 ODIs and two twenty20 games beginning with the tour of England last year.

After yet another set back here on Wednesday, India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said the top-order batting let the side down.

“If a couple of the top order batsmen had stayed longer, it would have been much easier for the new batsman coming in to play his shots with someone else stable at the other end. But that did not happen for us today,” he said.

He added the drizzle too did not help the team's cause after he had clinched the spin of the coin. “In England, we didn't win any of the tosses, it rained in the second innings and our bowling suffered because of that.

“This is the first toss I won over here and going by the forecast I thought we would be better off chasing. Around 170 runs would have been a good score to chase if the wicket had remained the same.>>>

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Bharat looks to avoid T20 whitewash

India has to find that exclusive spark of inspiration to end a nightmarish sequence of overseas setbacks. It needs a victory  in any format  like oxygen.

The side's 31-run defeat in the first KFC Twenty20 international at Sydney's Olympic Stadium on Wednesday meant India had now lost eight Tests, three ODIs, and two Twenty20 games in its last 15 matches on foreign soil.

During this period, an ODI ended in a no-result while another was a tie (both in England) but India failed to get the better of its opponent even once. Losing has become a dangerous habit. Belief – confidence is its off-shoot – has been a missing attribute in the Indian team.

Indeed, confident sides win more and Australia, presently, oozes belief. Pushed to the wall, India has to fight back. Under the circumstances, the second Twenty20 here at the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Friday assumes significance.>>>

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