5 reasons why the Australia series will be a big challenge for India

#4. India's issues in the batting order

MS Dhoni

Although India reached the finals of the Champions Trophy, the team still has several issues to sort out. The biggest concern is the fragile middle order. There is no confirmation on who will bat at number four.

Yuvraj Singh, who was called back in the ODI team last year to fill this slot, has performed below par and hence is being once again sidelined from the team. Ajinkya Rahane, who has been with the team for a long time, doesn't have the skipper's trust and his statistics at number four aren't all that remarkable.

KL Rahul has faced injury issues in the past and failed to deliver during the Sri Lanka series. In three innings, he scored only 28 runs and hence questions over his abilities have loomed. At the moment, Manish Pandey looks to be the best hope and his half-century in the T20I against Sri Lanka makes his case extremely strong.

The problem don't end at number four. MS Dhoni, although effective in Sri Lanka at number six, still has a few questions to answer as during that series he was rarely tested for the role which he is in the team, the role of a finisher during death overs.

Kedar Jadhav secured his place in the team with back-to-back swashbuckling and bold performances against England but since then hasn't achieved much with the bat. His role in the team is also a cause of concern.

The sensational batting form of India's top-three has protected the middle order on several occasions but the strong bowling unit of Australia, which consists of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, is capable of putting the pressure on India's middle order.

Adam Zampa's spin bowling can dry the runs in the middle overs and as Akila Dananjaya showed in Sri Lanka, it won't take much time to run through India's middle order.

The chinks in India's batting armoury can prove fatal in a crunch game against Australia.