Dhoni wants India to learn from loss

India captain MS Dhoni is hoping his side will learn from their Twenty20 loss to Zimbabwe.

India failed to chase down Zimbabwe's score of 6-170 in the first Twenty20 on Saturday, with Dhoni's relatively inexperienced side falling two runs short of victory in Harare.

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The majority of India's batsmen made good starts to the innings, but it was still left to Dhoni to try and score eight runs from the final over and guide the tourists home.

Neville Madziva was the hero for Zimbabwe with an excellent final over and Dhoni is hoping his batsman can learn from the experience when the second game of the series gets underway on Monday.

"I felt the batsmen will have to take the responsibility," Dhoni said after the match.

"The reason being, few of them, they were set, they were batting well. 

"When you're chasing targets, you need to take it to the end and then look to play the shots and that was something that was lacking in this game."

With star performers like Virat Kohli out of the side, Dhoni said his young players must take more responsibility of the situation when the game is on the line.

That means Dhoni will continue to bat down the order in the India Twenty20 team, despite calls for the veteran to come to the crease earlier in the innings.

"It's not for me. If I had to bat up, I could easily bat at four for this team," he said.

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"But what is important is for these youngsters to bat at that number because this is an opportunity for them. 

"The only reason I am here is to understand them and at the same time guide them as to what has to be done."

Dhoni said his side needs to pay more respect to Zimbabwe for the remainder for the series and is hoping for an immediate response in Monday's second game.

"It doesn't matter which team you're playing. It's a levelling experience," he said.

"What I mean by that is you need to give a lot of respect to cricket and when you go in to bat or bowl in the field, irrespective of the opposition, you have to be at your best. 

"You can't play with your reputation or playing eleven that looks good on paper. 

"What's important is how well you play on the field, how well you're executing. 

"It's the cricket that wins you the games, not the teams."