We failed to grab the opportunities

Defeat is never easy to swallow and Tuesday night's loss to South Africa has been particularly disappointing for the team.

We are really down. We had the chance to shape our own destiny but we failed to take the opportunity. Full credit to South Africa, they played a good game, but that does not take away the bitter taste of defeat.

Going into the game, we knew that the dew was going to be a major factor.

We'd played in Ahmedabad before and the dew was heavy, making it very difficult for the bowlers, especially the spinners who struggled to grip the ball properly. We'd practiced all week, bowling with soaking wet balls, but we then had to get the balance of the side right.

I have no regrets about winning the toss and bowling first. South Africa would have done the same and Pakistan followed suit on Wednesday.

The fact is that the best batting conditions in these day-night games is in the last 35 overs of the second innings. The ball comes on nicely to the bat, the spinners can't get any purchase and the bowlers struggle with their direction.

Media criticism

I understand that the media back home has been critical of the decision to drop the extra batsman, Chamara Kapugedera, in favour of an extra bowler.

But while the dew was guaranteed, the toss is 50/50. We had to prepare for both eventualities. With hindsight, an extra batter would have been useful, but you have to look at the conditions and make tough decisions according to the resources at your disposal.

We could not have risked going into the game with just three fast bowlers, as this would have left us needing to bowl at least 20 overs of spin. Thus, the best option for the team was to have four pace bowlers and Murali.

During the first innings, things went broadly to plan. I was happy with the bowlers, especially Chaminda, who bowled a champion new ball spell, and the fielding was sharp. Despite some quick runs at the end, which can always happen, we were left chasing a very gettable score. The key then was to get through the first 15 overs, the one time when batting was going to be tricky with the hard ball likely to nip around on a slightly soft surface. We faced a similar situation against New Zealand, but South Africa bowled much better, denying us opportunities to score and bowling wicket-taking deliveries.

-Gameplan