Alastair Cook eager to move on from defeat in India
England were beaten by 127 runs
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Your support makes all the difference.England captain Alastair Cook will urge his side not to dwell on yesterday's crushing 127-run defeat to India.
Cook was keen for his players not to get carried away by their unexpected nine-run win after the first one-day international in Rajkot and will now call on his men to put the series-levelling defeat to one side in the same fashion.
The scale of the loss was a little unfair on a side who set the agenda for around 40 overs before Mahendra Singh Dhoni (72) and Ravindra Jadeja (61no) dragged the hosts up to 285 for six with a thrilling late stand.
But despite England's lack of answers in that phase of the game, not to mention their slump to 158 all out, Cook preaches perspective.
"Clearly, it's been tough but you have to remember it's one game of the series," said the batsman.
"The danger is to have that little 'here we go again' moment and we can't let that happen.
"One of the skills we need is to be able to stay calm. In the dressing room after we won we spoke about that. After we've lost we're going to have to speak about that.
"That is the mentality, like when bowlers get hit for four: it needs to be what can I do next ball rather than what's gone.
"We've won one and we've lost one so it's set up the series nicely but clearly we've got some work to do."
Particular attention will be paid to Dhoni, India's match-winner in the middle order.
Long considered one of the game's most punishing performers in the closing overs of an innings, he has been at the peak of his powers in recent times.
His innings yesterday, comprising seven fours and two sixes in 66 balls, was a classic of the genre - featuring a handful of his trademark 'helicopter shots' as he laid into England's seamers.
Cook acknowledged Dhoni's impact on the result and knows his opposite number will be a crucial figure for the remaining three matches of the series if England fail to deal with his threat.
"Clearly it's very tough when you've got people like Dhoni in at the end. He's probably the best player in the world in those situations, in these conditions," said Cook.
"I think they got probably 30 or 40 too many towards the end, 108 off the last 10 overs, so that hurts.
"He does it time and time again. He's incredibly hard to bowl at and it's very very hard to stop him on these flat wickets. Hopefully one day we can produce a bit of magic to get him out, which puts them under pressure.
"He's obviously a key player for them and he's delivering at the moment."
England's next stop is Dhoni's hometown, Ranchi, where they arrive this afternoon ahead of Saturday's third ODI.
PA
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