Calcutta: India not just failed in the first ODI, but failed miserably to be handed a seven-wicket defeat by Sri Lanka in seam-friendly conditions in Dharamsala.

More than trailing in this three-match series, the manner of defeat - particularly how India batted - once again raises concerns over how the batsmen will fare in the upcoming Tests in South Africa.

Agreed, this is an ODI side and in South Africa, the Test specialists and regular captain Virat Kohli will all be back. But Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya looked to be having no clue before the seam obtained to a nicety by Suranga Lakmal, Angelo Mathews and Nuwan Pradeep.

Rohit, though, feels the batsmen didn't play any rash shots and instead, he was all praise for the Sri Lankan bowlers. "This experience will teach us a lot of things as a team. The defeat is an eye-opener. We take it in our stride and move forward. If we are put in this situation again, I'm sure we will respond better.

"Havng said that, this is a one-day side, so I don't think there is any comparison. With the Test team, we struggled in Calcutta as well. But any team in those types of conditions will struggle. I have seen enough cricket and we recently saw Ashes as well, what was happening there.

"In conditions like these, only one or two batsmen will score, not all of them. I don't think we played any rash shots, but Sri Lankans bowled at the right channel, kept us guessing all the time and batsmen were made to play all the time.

"We knew conditions were going to be tough. But sometimes when you are put in such situations, you have to bat it out, which means we got to respect the bowlers," said the stand-in captain.

Lauding the rival bowlers, Rohit added: "Credit should go to the Sri Lankan bowlers, for they made full use of the conditions."

He insisted that this forgettable experience will spur the team to do better next time. "As a team, as a batting unit, days like these will teach us a lot of things."