Meg Lanning concedes Australia have plenty of work to do as they bid for a fourth straight T20 World Cup title after suffering a shock series loss to India.
India triumphed by 10 wickets in a rain-affected clash at the MCG on Friday, taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
India had previously never won a bilateral women's series in Australia.
"We haven't taken them lightly at all," captain Lanning said.
"They just were able to outplay us. We've got a lot of improvements to make with (a tour of) New Zealand coming up and the World T20.
"There's always something to learn from every game you play.
"We probably haven't played to our potential in these games and India have."
The contest was shortened to 18 overs a side because of showers, with India opting to send in the hosts.
The Southern Stars posted a total of 8-125, including a collapse of 5-10 that started with the dismissal of top-scorer Lanning.
"It wasn't ideal. We were probably overly aggressive," Lanning said.
Smriti Mandhana and Mithali Raj guided India to 0-52 after 7.5 overs when the covers came on again.
Their target was trimmed to 66 from 10 overs, leaving the victory equation as 14 runs off 13 balls when play resumed.
Raj finished 37 not out and brought up the winning runs with five balls remaining.
The two defeats will give Lanning plenty to think about as she plots Australia's T20 World Cup defence.
Their campaign starts on March 18 against South Africa in Nagpur but hosts India loom as a major threat.
"They've outplayed us in probably all three parts of the game ... we're going to have to bounce back pretty quickly," Lanning said.
Lanning delivered a captain's knock of 49 that featured two sixes and set the platform for a big total.
Instead, the 23-year-old's unlucky dismissal at the non-striker's end proved a turning point.
The ball rattled the stumps following a well-timed drive from Jess Jonassen, with replays confirming diving bowler Harmanpreet Kaur managed to get a deflecting hand to it.
"It was unlucky I guess but JJ played a pretty good shot," Lanning said.
Jhulan Goswami, who snared 2-16 from her four overs, was thrilled with the result.
"We've never won a series outside India in the shorter format ... they have won the World Cup three times," Goswami said.
"So it gives us a lot of confidence ahead of the World Cup."
The series finale is at the SCG on Sunday.
