Misbah-ul-Haq watched Pakistan continue their wretched one-day international form in their Cricket World Cup opener against bitter rivals India and conceded that nerves are getting the better of his players.
Anchored by Virat Kohli's 107, defending champions India reached 300-7 in Adelaide on Sunday before Pakistan's run chase unravelled.
Misbah's 76 from 84 deliveries was scant consolation as MS Dhoni's men secured a 76-run win.
Defeat represented Pakistan's sixth against India in World Cup action and an 11th loss in their last 13 ODI outings.
Asked if nerves played a part in another disappointing Pakistan setback, captain Misbah said: "I think it might be.
"As everybody knows, they had Shikhar Dhawan [who scored 73] and Kohli, they're all fresh and they are very good batsmen, some of the top batsmen in the world, so I think they really played well. And the kind of talent that they have, they showed it.
"I think we could not really manage to score, our batsmen could not really convert their starts, and some of them just got out early. We need to learn [from] that.
"Like good players, we need to just carry on and just try to do the job for the team.
"Every game we lose is hard, especially in the World Cups, and you need to win the games.
"It was a thoroughly professional performance with them; they batted well and they really bowled well, so full credit to them."
Pakistan's next Pool B game is against West Indies on Saturday.
Misbah added: "We really need to just improve a little bit on taking wickets on a regular basis, in between even, in the middle overs, and then we need to really bat well."
