Centurion, Sept. 27: Three down for 65 in the 15th over, Pakistan were expecting India to go for the kill in their Group A league game here on Saturday. Instead, Mahendra Singh Dhoni brought on Virat Kohli, not even a regular bowler for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Man of the match Shoaib Malik (128) and Mohammad Yousuf went on to add a tournament record 206 for the fourth wicket as Pakistan totalled 302/9 in their 50 overs, and the Indians capitulated, going down by 54 runs.

Malik later admitted they were surprised that Dhoni had not immediately pressed frontline spinner Harbhajan Singh into the attack, the bowler eventually coming on only in the 26th over. "I was surprised that Dhoni did not bring Harbhajan on earlier. We were three down and another wicket would have hurt us." Dhoni however, justified his move. "I wanted to hold Bhajji back. I wanted to get some overs out of the way and have him for later when we knew they would attack. I wanted to force the batsmen to play shots against him."

Dhoni said the lack of bowling options and adaptability had also hurt the Indians. "The conditions here (at the SuperSport Park) were different, and we should have adapted. We had got used to bowling a shorter length and the pitch here was not so hard. It’s about adaptability and you have to be smart at the international level.

"I also felt we were short of bowling options. At times, I felt I was three bowlers short. Wherever I put a fielder, the ball went elsewhere.

"Losing the toss was a blessing in disguise. Initially when we were bowling up, it was tough for them and they played a few shots in the air. But after that we were quite consistent in bowling short. But that’s done and dusted, we have to look ahead now."

Clearly, Team India have problems, but not too many ideas about how to deal with them. And time is running out.