Calcutta/Dhaka: India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has said that the team is standing strongly behind captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and there is no change in the dressing room atmosphere despite the visitors losing their first-ever ODI series to Bangladesh.

India lost the first two ODIs of the ongoing three-match series to allow Bangladesh take an unassailable 2-0 lead and captain Dhoni received a lot of flak.

"If you don't support your leader (now) then when will you? So as far as I am concerned it's like an army, if you don't go behind your leader then you are definitely going to get shot. If my captain asks me to die on the field, I'll do it," Ashwin said at a media conference.

"It's not just now, be it any captain, you have to support him all the way. If he asks you to die on the field, then you have to be prepared to do it."

Calling Dhoni one of the legends of Indian cricket, Ashwin said: "He is one of star cricketers. He has done so much for the nation. We can't really forget what he has done.

"Yes, I know bad results crop and all kinds of statistics crop up. With statistics you can prove whatever you want as you please. You have to give credit to the individual because he has done a lot of good things.

"You can't blame him for the whole team's performance. That's not fair. I would say we have failed as a unit, failed as a group. We need to grow up as a group. To finish a season on a loss is not always bad. You can go back and work on whatever you need to work on," he insisted.

Although Ashwin admitted that India did not play good cricket, he said that the dressing room atmosphere is exactly the same as it has always been.

"I think we should be honest in admitting the fact that we haven't played very flamboyant cricket, and we have not come out of our shell. But as a whole, the dressing room atmosphere hasn't been anything short of anything it has been in the past. I think we are used to the fact that we do lose a few, but we win more, which has kept us in good stead.

"But going into this game (third ODI), we've really got to free the birds up and try and play as positively as we can," said the spinner.

When asked about how to counter Bangladesh's Mustafizur Rahman, who has taken 11 wickets in the series, Ashwin said that the only option was to kidnap him.

"There isn't a counter as such. I mean what can we do? Can we kidnap him (Mustafizur)? See it is not a media news. It's international cricket. Everybody is a professional to analyse what needs to be done," said Ashwin.

He did praise Mustafizur's variations. "He (Mustafizur) does bowl a good cutter, which is something we have to watch out for. We have to give him the respect as well. Respect is what is important in international cricket."

That he was not happy with too many questions on Mustafizur was evident when someone questioned if the left-arm seamer is a first of its kind that Indians are facing which has created problems for them.

Ashwin's rebuttal was a firm one.

"No sir, honestly it's not like that. I am not looking to snub or anything. He is a good bowler, you cannot deny what he has done or take the respect away from him. I am also happy for him. But I think the challenge starts here for him. As an international cricketer I would know it much better than anybody else. Now, people are going to watch out for him."

When asked if debutants tend to trouble Indian batsmen, Ashwin did not forget to mention that a lot of those debutants have faded into oblivion.

"I can answer that cheekily but I don't want to do it. Honestly, I think they are good bowlers. Ajantha Mendis, Mustafizur, Taskin. All these guys are good bowlers. You have got to give it to them. Some of them have fallen off the radar, but when these bowlers come on it's always about a surprise element."

Asked whether the Indian team had a meeting after they lost the second match, Ashwin said: "They happen as they need to. We have a particular format and we meet before the game. It will continue that way. We don't have any emergency meetings."

Ashwin said he would not want to blame just one department - batting or bowling - for the failure of the entire team.

"It's a team, and it's eleven individuals who come together and play. I don't want to isolate batting or bowling and say, 'This didn't work or that didn't work'. That is the start of a break in the team and that will not happen as far as I'm concerned. If you bat well, the bowlers have a good chance of winning games and if you bowl well, the batsmen have a good chance of winning games," he pointed out.

"It's very easy to say this department didn't work. The bowlers have only 10 wickets to take but 10 overs to give runs and face the brunt of what the media has to say. Both bowling and batting are equally tough. As a bowler, you don't have the numbers as a batsman. You can only pick up two-three wickets normally. The roles are very important and very definite.

"Somebody can bowl 10 overs for 25 runs without taking a wicket but that could be a match defining spell. But you won't hear the media talking about it. Only because the bowlers have done their job have we won 75 per cent of our games. It's important to appreciate that," Ashwin shot back.