Captain Rahul Dravid on Saturday sought to draw positives from India's three-wicket defeat against hosts Sri Lanka in the opening match of the Indian Oil Cup cricket tri-series, saying he was impressed by the way his bowlers very nearly won the match for the team.
Dravid felt India could have pulled off a victory if they had 30 more runs on the board and said the team management opted to go in with an extra batsman because the batting line-up lacked the experience.
"If we had enough runs on the board we could have won, but the batsmen did not particularly do well. We needed 30 more runs," Dravid said after India lost the floodlit match at the Ranagiri stadium.
Dravid said India could not contain Sanath Jayasuriya, who made 43 not out and that cost the team dearly in the end. "We could have got Sanath and got 30 more runs."
The Karnataka batsman said bowlers and the youngsters did well after a three months break. The bowlers made the Sri Lankans toil to chase a modest total of 205 on their home ground.
"I am proud of the way the bowlers bowled. I could not have asked for more from the bowlers," he said adding that youngsters also did well. We have to come back strong from here on".
{{/usCountry}}"I am proud of the way the bowlers bowled. I could not have asked for more from the bowlers," he said adding that youngsters also did well. We have to come back strong from here on".
{{/usCountry}}Sri Lankan captain Marvan Attapattu said the visitors fought hard and really made it tough for his team.
"They fought back well. But we were fortunate to have Sanath," he said.
Atapattu, however, admitted that his team still has a lot of room for improvement. "There is room for improvement in all the areas. We will try to improve in our next match which is on August 3."