Indian captain, MS Dhoni has defended his side’s inability to make a match out of the Australia game and said that the Indians were not natural pullers of the cricket ball. India had lost the ICC World T20 Super Eight game to Australia after being 50/7 at one stage.

Talking at the press conference at the end of the game, Dhoni said that the batsmen could have waited for some time before trying to play their strokes, but also added that it was easier to speak in the hindsight. The Indian captain acknowledged that the Australian bowlers had bowled much better and that given their pace and the amount of bounce they got, it was never going to be easy.

Dhoni said that despite the number of questions asked about the batsmen’s inability to handle the short ball, he saw no reason why that could not happen. He also cited the examples of the games played in the 2007 edition of the World T20 against England, Australia and South Africa which the Indians went on to win.

India, now, needs to win both their remaining games in the Super Eight stage against West Indies and Sri Lanka to qualify for the semi-finals. At the start of the tournament, they had gone into the game as second favourites to lift the trophy, but, are now placed fifth, with Bet365 offering 8/1 for their win.

Sky Bet offers 9/4 for Australia to triumph, whereas South Africa is at 4/1 at Sky Bet to do so.