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Chasing an imposing 351 for win, India came close yet remained far from victory as they folded for 347 after Sachin Tendulkar's sublime 175 off 141 balls.
After Tendulkar's departure in the first ball of the 48th over, India required 19 runs from 17 balls but the remaining three batsmen succumbed to pressure and could manage only 15.
Dhoni said India matched the World Champion side as far as cricketing skills are concerned but the want of mental toughness in crunch moments did them in.
"We lost the mental aspect and not the cricketing part of the match. Chasing 350 was always going to be difficult even on this wicket which played very well," Dhoni said after India conceded a 2-3 lead in the seven-match series.
Dhoni also said had it not been for Tendulkar's amazing and strokeful knock, the hosts would have never come so close to victory.
"Three or four of our top batsmen did not score but still we came close to the target. Sachin Tendulkar played very well and he was one man who brought us close to a win. But even after he left we did not lose hopes till the end," said Dhoni about Tendulkar's fabulous knock which was studded with 19 fours and four sixes.
Dhoni said though Tendulkar produced yet another special innings but his personal favourite remains the 'Desert Storm' in Sharjah against the same opponents in April 1998.
"It was a pleasure to see him batting so well. All his centuries have been special and this too. But I am still a big fan of his desert storm (innings)," he said.
Dhoni felt that though the conditions were ideal for batting, his bowlers gave away 20-30 runs extra on the placid Rajiv Gandhi International stadium wicket.
"We always knew the wicket was going to play good but the pressure of chasing 350 was high. It would have been easier had our bowlers done something extra to restrict the score to 325 or 330. I am not saying they should have stopped them at 270," said the wicketkeeper batsman, who had a poor outing with both the bat and behind the wicket.
Dhoni insisted that his side would be under no extra pressure in the next game at Guwahati on Sunday.
"Every game is a pressure game. There will always be pressure," he said.
Dhoni also lavished praise on the Australian batsmen for their superb show but said the three dropped chances cost his team dear.
"We dropped three catches which proved to be costly," he said about the chances given to Shaun Marsh (twice) and Shane Watson (once).
Marsh was dropped on 29 and 51 while Watson was let off on 90. Marsh made 112, his debut ODI hundred and Watson scored 93 and later took three wickets.
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Please don't blame Dhoni as well as Indian Team..Ups and down are happening We should not forget some memorial moments of Indian cricket.Inshallah we Indian will come up in remaining series..Playing cricket is more difficult than watching...We should appreciate our cricketing stars...They will shin up!!!!
Dhoni should be the 'THE LAST PERSON' to criticize his team members!! How many runs did he make in this match?! How many runs did he score in the previous match?! He has UTTERLY FALIED as a supposedly opening batsman & captain to win this match! Had he scored even 20 runs,India would have won this latest match! As the saying goes:India "SNATCHED DEFEAT FROM THE JAWS OF VICTORY" in the latest match & the first ODI! Shame on you Dhoni!!I am sure India is going to "LOSE" this series!!I shall not watch the last 2 matches as I am SURE india has "LOST" this series!!
kudos to master but for an indiscreet shot by him. He 'won the battles but lost the war' !! TONS OF RUNS AND WEALTH OF EXPERIENCE but a 'little' mistake by Little master cost Indians a match !! hero worshipping ,cricket loving public of India went 'GA GA' over master blaster getting 17000 runs target but will not blame him for an indiscreet shot !
Dhoni hit the nail on the head. The tail-enders crumbled without applying their minds. Sunil Gavaskar said as much in his commentary- the lack of temperament from Jadeja, hurried and short-sighted acts by Praveen and Nehra proved to be India's undoing yesterday. 19 runs in 17 balls with 3 wickets in hand was not an imposing target.
This i also observed at least in Ravinder Jadeja. That guy is good at batting-bowling but really lacks the confidence in his abilities. Till sachin was on crease, Jadeja looked calm and was getting boundaries easily. Once sachin left, he looked like table tennis player put in front of a fast bowler at 150 kmph. He needed to be there as he was the last specialist batsman and he needed to see india through as he was set. What mental toughness is, perhaps he needs to learn from someone like Dhoni, harbhajan. Despite not having very good shots Dhoni has been so successfull mostly because of his attitude and his never dying zeal to fight in any circumstance.
Nice effort but bad finisher.Like a replay of Chennai 99 against Pakistan when the great sachin though the match against Pakistan when there is only 20 odd runs required and 4 wickets left. Great teams only required the sneaks of a chance as Australia capitalized yesterday and Pakistan did in 99 [Pakistan did won 2-1 in that test matches tour]