ALASTAIR Cook admits he is ‘‘concerned’’ after England’s second heavy one-day international defeat against India in as many matches.

England trail India 2-0, with three to play in a hectic ODI series which continues in Mohali on Thursday, after following their opening 126-run setback in Hyderabad with an equally if not more emphatic eight-wicket loss at the Feroz Shah Kotla.

The tourists never recovered properly from nought for two – Cook and his opening partner Craig Kieswetter both went for ducks – in an inadequate total of 237 all out.

Then Virat Kohli (112 not out) and Gautam Gambhir (84no) made a mockery of the target in an unbroken doublecentury stand which ended the day-night match more than 13 overs early.

‘‘It is a concern to lose like that twice,’’ said the England captain. ‘‘Once you can put down to a bad performance, but twice is concerning.’’ Cook is at a loss to explain why England have under-performed so blatantly.

They knew all along it would be tough to follow up last month’s 3-0 home ODI series victory over India, once they encountered sub-continental conditions.

But there was still much optimism as well as realism in the squad before last Friday’s first match.

‘‘Only the players can turn things around,’’ added Cook.

‘‘We have prepared well and practised well but have just not played, out in the middle.

‘‘The conditions play a huge part. But nought for two and then 20s, 30s and 40s do not win you games.’’ Cook nonetheless retains faith in his team.

‘‘I believe we have got the players to win here. But everyone has to play to the best of their abilities.

‘‘We have to do the basics well, and we haven’t done that. The encouraging thing is we have players in good nick. It will not take a massive change.’’ Several England players appeared to lose their cool as it became abundantly clear that India were going to win with conspicuous ease.

Steven Finn bowled fast and well without reward, often finding the edge only to see the ball racing off to the boundary anyway, and both Jade Dernbach and Jonathan Trott also became agitated while Kohli and Gambhir were batting.

But Cook said: ‘‘It was two teams out there desperate to win. There are flashpoints, but it was umpired really well, and no one overstepped the mark.’’ His opposite number Mahendra Singh Dhoni was simply able to reflect on a job remarkably well done again – this time without the need for another batting virtuoso from him.

‘‘The youngsters are stepping up, and coming up with the performances needed at international level – both with ball and bat,’’ he said.

On Kohli, he added: ‘‘He is going through a stage where he is really improving as a cricketer, and that is really good to see.

‘‘We shouldn’t forget Gautam Gambhir either, because he batted really well.

‘‘The English bowlers were getting a bit of swing, so we really had to get a partnership going. We didn’t really have to chase too many runs, though, because on that kind of wicket 240 was a slightly under-par score.’’