With this bowling , we need to score 330-plus: Dhoni

Brisbane, January 15
In the first two One-day Internationals of the current series, India have racked up their highest ODI scores in Australia. Yet, Australia easily overhauled India’s 309 at the WACA in Perth and 308 today at the Gabba in Brisbane.
The Indian batsmen mounted these huge totals against a bowling attack that’s inexperienced and experimental, in the absence of first-choice pacers Mitchell Starc and James Pattinson. In today’s game, Australia chose to rest even Josh Hazlewood.
The ease with which the Australians have chased India’s record high scores shows that the Indian batsmen must do much, much more. Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said today that they need to score 300-plus runs to put pressure on Australia.
“It seems like we have to score more runs to put pressure on the batsmen. Back-to-back 300 is always good, but looking at our bowlers, we need to score 330 or more,” Dhoni said after Australia’s comfortable win.
Against a second-string Australian attack today, the Indians could manage only 75 runs in the last 10 overs, losing six wickets in the process. Dhoni said they were trying their best, but it wasn’t easy.
“We tried our best to score, but what’s important is the execution,” he said. “I feel they bowled well in the last 10 overs. When you keep losing wickets, it becomes more and more difficult for the new batsman to come in and straight away play the big shots.”
“I’ve always said it’s one of the most difficult things to do, especially when the bowlers are executing their plans well, bowling good yorkers and using the length of the boundary at the same time,” he added. “It makes it more difficult for the batsmen.”
The Indians bowled 11 wides and one no ball when they tried to defend the 308 today. Ishant Sharma bowled eight wides. India, thus, bowled two overs extra and gifted 12 runs as extras. Australia bowled seven wides.
“Most of the wides weren’t because of swing. Even after the ball got old we were bowling wides,” Dhoni said. “When we were supposed to build pressure, we bowled wides.”
“In both the games, we’ve given a fair amount of extras. That takes that number of runs off the total score, and on good wickets that definitely matters,” he added. “As for Ishant, the breeze was circulating around… I think that made it slightly difficult for him.”
So what’s to be done to beat Australia? Before the series started, former captain Sunil Gavaskar had said that in the absence of Johnson and Starc, the Australian attack was inexperienced, and that if India could get off to a good start, “they will not be easy to beat”.
In the event, India got off to good starts in both the games, and got big totals, yet they were very easy to beat.
Dhoni might wish to make Australia bat first and set a total for India in the next match. “We have to look for 330, or give them the batting first,” he said. “These are the two options we have. We’ll have a look and decide what suits us best (in the next match in Melbourne on Sunday, January 17.)”