Bowling needs to improve: Dhoni

Southampton, Sep 7 (IANS) Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni says the team needs to work on its bowling in the three remaining matches of the NatWest ODI series against England.

India lost the rain-shortened second ODI by seven wickets Tuesday and now trail the five-match series 0-1. The first ODI was washed out by rain.

The loss was India’s sixth successive against England this summer. Dhoni, however, saw a positive in India’s improved batting performance.

‘It was a tough day. We batted well to put 180-plus on the board. But the first powerplay was crucial - they got 60-odd runs and 100 from 10 overs and then they didn’t need to take any risks,’ Dhoni said. ‘We have been able to put runs on the board in the ODI series, which is a positive for us, but a bit of improvement is needed in the bowling department. ‘Everybody tries their best, but almost all the bowlers went for runs.’ He, however, ruled out any changes in the bowling line-up. ‘We only have specialist bowlers left, which would mean going a batter light, and that is not something we are comfortable with - we need the extra batsman because most of our batsmen play aggressive cricket,’ Dhoni said.

‘We try to come up with plans that may work, but not much has worked so far for us.’

Ajinkya Rahane, who top scored with 54 runs, needed a runner because of a leg injury towards the end of his innings, but Dhoni expects him to be fit for the next match at The Oval Friday.