We misread the wicket, says Dhoni

It’s for a good reason that Sri Lanka are considered very tough to beat at home. They play hard in these stifling conditions and given the opportunity, go for the jugular. Though the Indians have played a fair bit at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, they misjudged the wicket as Mahendra Singh Dhoni admitted after an eight-wicket hammering in the series opener here on Monday.

Beginning on a losing note doesn’t help matters but the Indian skipper was man enough to admit that they had blundered on the turf.

"To start with, we misread the wicket. We did not think it would seam or swing that much. There was a fair bit in the wicket to start off and the Sri Lankan bowlers bowled really well. They got the first two batsmen out, it was not like the batsmen played bad shots and got out. Credit goes to their fast bowlers, they got wickets. Later on, (Ajantha) Mendis put the pressure," said Dhoni.

All through the Test series, it’s been Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan versus the Indian batsmen. The two Lankan spinners have been really on top but it is Mendis’s mystery deliveries that have befuddled the Indians.

"It’s difficult to pick him. He is a very different bowler. Even if you pick him, by the time you realise what ball it is, it gets really late to play a big shot. In one-day cricket it is not only about playing him, you have to rotate the strike because you don’t want a bowler to end up with ten overs for 20 runs. We will need to find a way by which we can rotate the strike, if not play big shots.

"The trouble is in picking him; I have not seen any bowler like this. He is an unusual bowler. (We need) to take singles off him and Murali and look to attack the others because you have got to have something on the board. You can’t score 180 or 200 and look to defend that. You have to get a decent score for which we will have to score off each and every bowler."

The Indian skipper rued the absence of Virender Sehwag due to injury and said Gautam Gambhir’s early exit compounded their misery. "He (Sehwag) was the batsman in top form. Gautam also got out early. We lost the top two performers of the Test series.

"But that’s the way it is. It’s important to get a good start. In the last two finals, we lost quick wickets. We may look at a different composition as well, but it is at a very initial stage. But whatever fits the team best, we will decide on that."