Dhoni laments 15 minute lapse by batsmen

Mahendra Singh Dhoni had a unique explanation for Thursday's six-run ODI defeat against New Zealand, saying India would have won if his batsmen had spent 15 more minutes at the crease.

Chasing the Black Caps' 9-242 on a sluggish Feroz Shah Kotla wicket in New Delhi, India were bowled out for 236 in the final over to leave the five-match series tied at 1-1.

As New Zealand finally broke the shackles to record their first win on the current tour on the back of skippper Kane Williamson's superb 118, his counterpart rued a collective batting failure by the hosts.

"I think it was a par score and if any of the batsmen had batted 15 minutes more, we would have won," Dhoni said after his first ODI loss as captain in the past six games at the Kotla.

"There were quite a few partnerships, but we kept losing wickets after every partnership. When you are chasing a score like this it is important you keep a few wickets in hand.

"Even if you need six or seven runs an over in the end, it can easily be achieved, but our problem was that we kept losing wickets.

"It's not about one batsman. Any batsman would have felt that if he had contributed 10 per cent more we would have won the game."

Dhoni, once a finisher par excellence, was probably thinking of himself when he said that. He failed to score off 37 of the 65 balls he faced, ultimately falling for a sketchy 39 to a superb diving return catch by Tim Southee.

Dhoni came to bat at number five in the 19th over when less than six runs an over were needed for victory. By the time he departed in the 40th over, the asking rate had climbed to more than seven an over.

The 35-year-old World Cup-winning captain, who retired from Tests midway during a tour of Australia in 2014, has been under fire following poor one-day results and his indifferent form with the bat.

There are growing calls for Dhoni to make way for the popular Virat Kohli, who established himself as Test skipper by leading India to the number one ranking this month.

Dhoni, who decided to field after winning the toss, said it may have been better to bat first because the dew that was expected later in the evening did not materialise.

"What generally happens is that when you have dew, the ball comes on to the bat better," he said. "I felt the wicket was best to bat on during the day because as the game progressed, the pitch got slower and slower."

Defending his unusually sedate batting, Dhoni said the regular fall of wickets at the other end hampered his style.

"I always want to bat up the order and want to play few more strokes, but it's not an easy thing to do if people keep losing their wickets at the other end," he said.

"One or two wickets slows you down to an extent. Then if you have a partnership and a wicket falls, you have to again start from scratch."

That India lost the game by only six runs was due to an enterprising ninth-wicket stand of 49 between all-rounder Hardik Pandya (32-ball 36) and Umesh Yadav after the hosts were down to 8-183.

The third match will be played in Mohali on Sunday.