Loss against Pakistan hurt our CT campaign: Dhoni

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Wednesday said the opening match defeat against Pakistan was crucial to his side's early ouster from the Champions Trophy.India started their group campaign in the elite ICC event by losing against Pakistan and then their second league match against Australia was washed out, leaving Dhoni and his men in a precarious situation.

Although India beat West Indies by seven wickets on Wednesday, Australia, eventually, poured water to their semi-final hopes, defeating Pakistan by two wickets in a nail-bitting another Group A match earlier in the day.

"I think the first game we didn't play to our potential. The loss in the first game was very crucial. To our bad luck, the game against Australia was washed out. We could have easily won that game.

"But yes, we made a few errors on the field and I think the blame goes on to the first game. Getting into the groove early is very important," a disappointed Dhoni said after registering India's first win in the tournament.The India captain, however, lauded his bowlers and said ignoring a few mistakes, he was satisfied with their performance.

"Praveen (Kumar) and Ashish (Nehra) started brilliantly. Ashish has been the pick of the bowlers in this tournament. Bhajji (Harbhajhan Singh), (Amit) Mishra too bowled well. Overall, I am very happy with the bowling performance.
 "We did commit some mistakes against Pakistan but the conditions were there and they exploited it to the best," Dhoni said.

He expressed optimism of getting a full strength side against Australia, who will touring India next month for seven one-day internationals.