Team India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni blamed his bowlers for the four-wicket defeat to Pakistan in the second One-Day International at Mohali on Thursday night.
Batting first, India rattled up 321 for nine, giving the bowlers enough runs on the board to defend. However, neither the pacers or spinners could capitalise on that and Pakistan reached the target with one ball to spare, to level the five-match series 1-1.
"Bowlers did not bowl according to the field. We got the start but we never capitalised on it. We could have done better," a disappointed Dhoni said.
He also dismissed the notion that the strategy to leave out a bowler -- Murali Kartik -- to accommodate an extra batsman -- Virender Sehwag -- Â backfired.
"I don't think so. We did not miss a bowler today. Sourav (Ganguly) bowled so well; in fact, he was better than our regular bowlers.
"Besides, I had other options in (Virender) Sehwag, Yuvraj (Singh) and Sachin (Tendulkar) as well. It's not right that we lacked a bowler today," he argued.
Dhoni, however, was happy that the match turned out to be a see-saw affair and said people can look forward to plenty of such excitement in the coming matches.
Dhoni's Pakistani counterpart Shoaib Malik was relieved to level the series even though he admitted being tensed by the fluctuating fortunes of the match.
"I think I have to check my blood pressure level. Credit goes to Younis (Khan) and Misbah-ul-Haq, and in the end Shahid (Afridi) and Sohail (Tanvir) finished it in style.
"The win would encourage us and the team morale is sky-high after this victory," he added.
He also had a word of praise for the Mohali wicket.
"The wicket was excellent. It was lively and had something for both the pacers and the batsmen."
Younis Khan, whose maiden century against India fetched him the Man of the Match award said the Pakistani batting order clicked today.
"Misbah and I wanted to stay till the end. We always knew that we have to set the platform and give Shahid (Afridi) five-six overs to finish it off, which he did," he said.
