Mahendra Singh Dhoni was far from happy despite leading India to victory over Sri Lanka in the tri-nations series final in Colombo.
India captain slams fielding display after success in Sri Lanka
Mahendra Singh Dhoni was far from happy despite leading India to victory over Sri Lanka in the tri-nations series final in Colombo.
India won by 46 runs after racking up 319 for five in their innings, Sachin Tendulkar hitting a masterful 138, before bowling their opponents out for 273.
However, Dhoni was critical of the bowling and fielding performance and was disappointed Sri Lanka got so close to their victory target.
"We have got to learn from our mistakes and there were too many made on the field today," he said. "I think we put in a team effort there too - we just didn't field well as a team.
"It is crucial and more often than not you end up losing the game if you make as many mistakes as we did. But thanks to some solid performances from a few of the players we ended up on the winning side.
Mistakes
"It feels good to win the series and it's very special for us because it comes after a long time here. But we cannot afford to make mistakes especially if we want to sustain the kind of performances that we have had in the recent past.
"We have got to learn from our mistakes and we have to be at our best."
Dhoni was unhappy that new ball bowlers Ishant Sharma and Ashish Nehra leaked runs at the start. Opener Tillakaratne Dilshan's knock of 42 came off just 29 deliveries and contained nine boundaries.
"I think we gave Dilshan a lot of room to play his strokes and he's one batsman who relishes the opportunity when the ball is bowled just a short of length," he added.
"Hopefully, when we meet again, our bowlers won't give him the width because he can really hurt you and kill the team."
Dhoni paid tribute to Rahul Dravid, who agreed to open the batting with Tendulkar and helped to lay a solid foundation for the innings.
"It was only possible because Rahul agreed to open the innings," he said. "His spot is at number three, but you don't want a situation where he is shunted lower down the order because he is the kind of batsman who can make a difference opening the innings rather than batting down the order.
"With Rahul opening, it gave us the opportunity to shuffle the batting and give the opposition a few surprises."
