5 problems India have with their ODI side

Team India have won 8 ODI bilateral series on the trot and they don't look like ending their winning streak anytime soon. But that doesn't mean they have the most balanced side in the world.

The Men In Blue do have a few weaknesses and selection issues to be addressed while getting ready for the 2019 World Cup. Let's have a look at 5 problems that India have in their current ODI side.

1) Over-reliance on the top 3

Shikar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have had yet another great year in limited overs cricket. This formidable top 3, first featured together in the 2013 Champions Trophy opener.

While Virat Kohli has been the backbone of Indian batting, the starts that Rohit Sharma and Shikar Dhawan give are commendable. They compliment each other and form big partnerships consistently.

Sometimes, your strength can be your weakness as well. The quality of the top three is so good that the middle order doesn't get tested frequently. Close to 50% of the runs have been made by the top 3 since the Champions Trophy 2013, including the matches that they haven't played. When these three fail, the batsmen in the middle order find it difficult to build the innings. The 2017 Champions Trophy final is a very good example of it.

13,304 of the 27004 runs (49.2%) have been scored by the top 3 from the 2013 Champions trophy

2) The never ending number 4 musical chairs

Number 4 is a tricky spot in ODI cricket. You might walk into the crease at 10 for 2 to face a relatively newer ball or at 220 for 2 to face a bowling attack that has already been torn apart. You need the game to be compatible to any situation as opposed to an opener or a finisher.

Yuvraj Singh owned the number 4 spot till the 2011 World Cup.

But he is not the same player now that he used to be. Ajinkya Rahane was used in the spot for the 2015 World Cup, only to be slotted back as a back-up opener. While he is a perfect fit for the longer format, his strike rate in white ball cricket has always been a problem.

The Indian think-tank has used as many as 11 players in this spot after the 2015 World Cup and none of them have sealed the spot which has been there for the taking for a long time now. Manish Pandey seemed to be a perfect fit at the position. However, apart from the one innings where he took India home in Australia with a graceful century, he didn't really make the most of his opportunities.

Dinesh Karthik, technically a better batsman, is in the mix as well. His experience to have batted at number 4 for both Team India and his state Tamil Nadu is a big plus for him. What looked like a direct toss up between Pandey and Karthik, now has a new entrant in the name of Shreyas Iyer.

He certainly made the most of Virat Kohli's absence and showed both intent and aggression, words that are constantly used under Kohli's captaincy.

3) Third seamer in the eleven

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah have been a revelation for Team India. While Bhuvi is lethal with the new ball, Bumrah is by far the best death bowler in the world at the moment. Having said that, both are not newbies in the other's scenario as well. Bhuvneshwar has been absolutely magnificent in the death in recent times with his varieties and the knuckle ball that he has developed. Bumrah has also chipped in with wickets with the new ball.

But Team India has not picked a third seamer on a consistent basis with the emergence of Hardik Pandya as a "fast bowling all - rounder", the most envied term in World Cricket. More often than not, his bowling has been a weak link for Team India.

Kohli is not 100% confident about his bowling and that is why you see him trying to use Pandya at a very early stage to complete his quota of overs as early as possible. On a good day, someone like Kedar Jadhav can roll his arm over but you cannot expect a part timer to contribute 4-5 overs on a regular basis.

4) Spinners - experience vs effectiveness

The 'spin twins' have kept Ashwin and Jadeja on their toes

Picking up wickets with the new ball and bowling well during the death overs are always considered to be good traits for a bowling unit.

But bowling well during the middle overs will be the difference between chasing 350 and 270. India don't have the services of Zaheer Khan anymore, a man who used to come back for the second spell once the cherry starts reversing. His wickets in the middle overs were very crucial in India winning the 2011 showpiece event.

After that, Ashwin and Jadeja formed a formidable bowling pair and controlled the middle overs. But batsmen are taking a few more risks now in the middle overs with the change of powerplay rules.

So, both the finger spinners have become way too predictable. They both had a very poor outing in the Champions Trophy 2017 finals. The spin duo failed to give the much needed control that the team needed. That was the last time when Ashwin and Jadeja featured in the blue jersey together.

The selectors have preferred wrist spinners over finger spinners and it has proved to be a masterstroke as both Kuldeep Yadav and Chahal have been attacking the batsmen relentlessly under the guidance of Kohli and Dhoni behind the stumps. They have picked up wickets consistently in the middle overs. But the young guns are yet to be tested in a crunch situation and only time will tell how they will respond to pressure.

So choosing between wrist spinners and finger spinners is a task in hand for the selectors. This is not exactly a problem but it is definitely a selection headache that the selectors should fix as soon as possible.

5) Dhoni's batting position

Good or bad, MS Dhoni is always in the news. His place and role in this current Indian side is being questioned all the time. His finishing skills and his ability to rotate the strike in the middle overs have been tested in the recent past.

Having said that, even a half-effective Dhoni is better than most of the wicketkeeper-batsmen in this country.

But what will worry Team India is the fact that he has not batted in a fixed position for 3 matches at a stretch. His role in the side is not yet clear.

It is obvious that he is not the same finisher that he used to be. A lot of thinking has gone behind the idea of grooming Hardik Pandya as the finisher. So far, Pandya has responded well. If that is the way forward, then there is no point in making Pandya bat before Dhoni when the game is only at the 30 overs mark. It is a good thing that India's batting order is flexible, but gametime is very important for Dhoni given that he doesn't play the Test format. Dhoni the wicket keeper is as sharp as ever and his cricketing brain is still amongst the best even after he passed on the baton of captaincy to Virat Kohli.

You can almost see Dhoni taking control once the spinners are on, with Kohli fielding in the deep. So should India win the 2019 World Cup, Dhoni's role and batting position should be clearly communicated to him.