Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said later that his team had performed to the best of its abilities, but things did not work out.
Was it really the case?
For starters, England just had to carry on from where the West Indies bowlers left off in India's last match. The Indian batsmen were at all sea against the bouncer in their last game, but never bothered to work on that weakness on the off day after that match.
It was no surprise that England's pacers exploited the weakness, which ultimately proved the difference between the two teams.
Indian fans were stunned when Dhoni and the team management dropped their highest wicket-taker, Pragyan Ojha, and brought in Ravindra Jadeja. The Rajasthan Royals all-rounder did a decent job with the ball, but his subdued knock, during which he scored 25 off 35 deliveries, put India under tremendous pressure to up the run rate.
Questionable was the decision to keep the in-form Yuvraj Singh waiting down the order at number five. By the time he came in the equation had climbed to a near-impossible -- 92 runs needed from 56 deliveries. And when the next big hitter, Yusuf Pathan, walked in, the task had gotten even tougher -- 67 from the last six overs.
After the game Dhoni admitted his gambles -- promoting Jadeja; not taking the initiative in the middle overs; keeping Yuvraj waiting down the order -- did not work.
In a must-win encounter, should India have gone in for experimentation?
Who would you blame for the loss? The team? Or Dhoni?
Tell us.
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