DANBULLA: India ODI skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Monday accepted the blame for a thumping loss to Sri Lanka in the opener, saying he misread the wicket and chose to bat first which put paid to his team chances in the match.

"To start off we misread the wicket a bit. We thought it may not seam or swing that much. As the breeze was strong, we expected it to swing throughout the day which it did. But I think there was a fair bit in the wicket to start off," Dhoni said.

Dhoni, however, said Sri Lankan pacemen deserved all the credit for removing Indian openers cheaply and destabilising the innings.

"The Sri Lankan bowlers bowled really well. The top two batsmen they got out not due to a bad shot. They got out of their defence. The credit goes to their fast bowlers. I think they got wickets," he said.

"Later on, (Ajantha) Mendis put the pressure and the only thing we were doing was to catch up and it really gets tough in the one-dayers if you lose too many wickets upfront," he added.

Asked why could not Indian spinners repeat the performance of Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan, Dhoni said the Sri Lankan duo were a different lot.

"If you see Muralitharan and Mendis they are different bowlers. Murali is fast. He can turn on any sort of wicket. He loves Sri Lankan wicket. Even when he bowls fast he gets some purchase out of the wicket.

"If it was any other spinner apart from Murali and Mendis, they wont have got so much turn you can say. There was a bit you can say but if you are in a good position then you can exploit that," he said.
Source : MMD English