India captain MS Dhoni has rued the failure of his batsmen against Pakistan on Thursday.
The home side lost their second one-day international match by 85 runs in Kolkata, as they failed to reach the target of 251 runs set by the tourists.
"Last 30 overs we needed 180, so if you put 100 off 20, then you can get 80-90 off last 10 with five fielders inside the circle," Dhoni told reporters.
"But the key is to have wickets in hand and we never were in a position.
"Virat [Kohli] has scored runs for us, but one of the top three needs to play with the middle order, that will make it easy, not that they aren't trying, but it happens."
The final match of the series will take place in Delhi on Sunday, with Pakistan heading into the game with an unassailable 2-0 lead.