India's ODI skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Monday admittted that he made a mistake in gauging the wicket and elected to bat in the morning which cost the side its first match against Sri Lanka in Dambulla.
"I misread the wicket. In the morning there was something for the bowlers but I thought it will be just for half an hour or so but it went on to assist them for longer," Dhoni said after the match.
"Moreover, we were not chasing well for sometime (in last few matches) but all credit to the Lankans they bowled really well," he added.
India could scalp only two Lankan wickets after posting a paltry 146 but Dhoni still said his bowlers faired well.
"Both Munaf and Zaheer bowled well but I guess it was not enough," he said.
Asked about his plan for the next match, Dhoni said, "the next match is a day after, so we will involve ourselves in some team activity, take a day off and comeback strong in the next match."
His Sri Lankan counterpart Mahela Jayawardene heaped praise on his players and said the home team played to their strength and bowled well against a quality opposition.
"Playing to our strength and the urge to keep working hard against a quality opposition was the key," he said.
On his decision to hold back Ajantha Mendis a bit in the match, Jayawardene said, "the Indians were not taking any chance against Mendis, so we decided to hold him back and introduce other bowlers in the meantime."
Jayawardene, who scored an unbeaten 61 to take Sri Lanka to a eight-wicket victory, said he tried to see off the new bowl which did the trick for him.
"It was not easy to bat but I decided to see off the new bowl and bat through the overs," he said.
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