Disappointed at having not made the final: Dhoni

Sydney, March 26 (IANS) Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Thursday expressed his disappointment over not making it to the cricket World Cup final, but in the same breath lauded the efforts of his team which bounced back from a dismal Test and Tri-series to make it to the semi-finals of the mega event.

India bowed out of the World Cup on Thursday, losing to Australia by 95 runs at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Addressing the post-match media conference, Dhoni referred to his side's below par show in the Test matches and Tri-series in Australia ahead of the World Cup.

"The Test matches didn't go our way, the Tri-Series didn't go our way, so it was important to have a good dressing room atmosphere, and all the members, including the support staff, they were just brilliant because if you have a good dressing room atmosphere, it's slightly easier to come back into form."

"I felt everybody rose up to the occasion, how the fast bowlers bowled throughout this tournament, how the spinners have done, learning from all their past experiences when we fell outside."

"I thought it was the reason all of that together sums up the kind of performance that we have given in this tournament. Disappointed, we couldn't go into the finals, but only one team can win, and I felt they played better cricket on the day," he said.

India went down 0-2 to Australia in the four-match Test series before finishing without a win in the limited over Tri-series also featuring England.

Asked about India's talismanic middle-order bat Virat Kohli who scored just a run off 13 balls before falling to rival quick Mitchell Johnson's delivery, the skipper said it can happen to the best of batsmen and it is a part of the game.

"I feel he went out there, let's have the fact and he played a shot and didn't pay off. It happens, and it happens to a lot of batsmen. Once the opposition puts over 300 runs on the board and they have quality bowlers, at some point of time you have to take that risk, and if it pays off, if it clicks, all of a sudden everything changes. He played a shot, it didn't pay off, so that's it. I would say it happens in cricket," said Dhoni.