Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Sunday admitted that India cannot afford to have Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar in the same XI as the opposition will "exploit" the trio's fielding inadequacies.

The combined age of the trio amounts to 101 years, with the 30-year-old Gambhir the youngest and the 38-year-old Sachin Tendulkar the oldest. Their limbs are ageing. Their prowess in the field is not what it used to be. Youngsters like Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma, meanwhile, are stopping quick singles and saving the boundaries with great agility.

This was most obvious on Sunday, when a team featuring Tendulkar and Gambhir, but no Sehwag, conceded a slew of extras, dropped three catches, missed a couple of run-out opportunities and took a full four hours to bowl their 50 overs lost to Australia by 110 runs in their ODI tri-series clash.

"People often talk about that one run, but that one run that you save, it changes the strike, and if the next ball the batsman plays a big shot - a six or a four, it can have a big impact," said Dhoni. "If you see, the last few games that we played, we got two or three run-outs and that really had a big impact.

"Also, it's not only these three players -Tendulkar, Sehwag and Gambhir - that we are talking about. We also have quite a few other players who are slow on the field. It will just add onto that, and we will be left with just two or three really good fielders. It's not that these fielders are bad, but for this environment and these conditions and big outfields, they are slightly on the slower side. They will be exploited.

"Once the ball goes to them, the Australians or the Sri Lankans will try to exploit the doubles or three runs. It means it will put more pressure on their body because the throwing needs to be good, and the diving needs to be good so they will under constant pressure. So ultimately it will be a pressure game."

India endured a torrid performance in the Brisbane heat on Sunday. With half-centuries from Peter Forrest and Michael Hussey and Daniel Christian and David Hussey's late-order cameos taking their full toll, only Zaheer Khan managed to finish with respectable figures as the Aussies finished on 288 for five after winning the toss and batting first.

In reply, the visitors soon fell to 82 for five and later 178 all out as Ben Hilfenhaus returned to the Australian team with his first five-wicket haul in ODI cricket.

"It slipped in the last 10 overs," added Dhoni. "The bowlers felt the heat. Right from the start of the second Powerplay, in the 36th over I saw my best fast bowlers battling through cramps, so that was the reason I bowled Zaheer Khan out in that spell.

"I didn't want to lose any overs from him and then kept Vinay Kumar for the last few, but he also felt the cramps. In the last 10 overs they batted really well and our bowlers were not really able to execute the way they could have if they were not battling cramps or the heat. It was hot out there and you are supposed to go through that phase, but I felt they found it slightly difficult to go through."

India's next match is against Sri Lanka in Brisbane on Tuesday. They will be without their captain after Dhoni copped a one-match ban from the ICC for his side's second over-rate infringement of the year.