GUWAHATI, Nov. 8: Whether the series defeat at the hands of Australia can be compensated with victory over Sri Lanka is still uncertain. But Team India’s batting line-up needs to deliver more often other than from piling up runs on flat tracks. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni too admitted that it was high time the batsmen became a little more consistent.

"Our batting lacks consistency. Right through the series, the batsmen haven’t grabbed the opportunity and they failed to score at par with others. In some matches, the regular batters failed leaving too much work to do for the lower-order," Dhoni commented after losing the series to Australia by a 2-4 margin here on Sunday.

Like his counterpart Ricky Ponting, Dhoni too didn’t hold the pitch responsible for his team’s collapse in the first 10 overs and emphasised the role of spinners at the latter stages. "I don’t think the pitch behaved badly. The only thing is that there was a fair bit of assistance for pacers initially.

"On the contrary, I think the track favoured spinners more. With spinners holding the key, another 20 runs could well have made some difference," he rued. It was only on match eve when Dhoni admitted that his team’s middle-order has not delivered.

In the vital sixth ODI too, the top-order too flopped ‘in tandem’ with the middle to seal India’s fate in the first 10 overs itself.

"Obviously, being reduced to 27/5 was a little too much. It’s extremely difficult to make a comeback from such a position. Having said that, experienced guys in the middle may well have helped in this kind of condition, especially when we were two down after the first over."

India badly needed Virender Sehwag to fire, but he wasn’t quite at his best throughout this series. He began on a tremendous note, greeting Mitchell Johnson with a six off the very second ball before falling to his chronic deficiency — rooted to the crease even when the ball came back into him. "Sehwag’s more of an aggressor. The way he paces his innings gives us the momentum. All of us have witnessed it in the past," Dhoni said.