England vs India 2018: 5 reasons why India lost the second ODI

It was supposed to be MS Dhoni's milestone moment. First, he got to 300 ODI catches then he scaled Mount 10,000 but in the end, all of that was brushed aside as England spoiled the party by beating India by 86 runs in the second ODI at Lord's and leveled the three-match ODI series 1-1.

For much of the game, it looked like a familiar script was being followed. England got off to a good start, India brought on their two spinners, who curtailed the flow of runs and picked up crucial wickets. In response, Virat Kohli looked set and on course to register another one of his crucial knocks in a run chase that helped his side get over the line.

But there were a few major deviations to the script along the way. After the spinners brought India back into the game, the visitors let the game slip at the death. Although both openers fell early, neither Kohli nor Raina scored a fifty. And the usually dependable MS Dhoni played an uncharacteristically slow knock that earned some boos towards the end of the match.

And all of that meant that India lost at Lord's by a whopping margin of 86 runs and will go into the third ODI at Headingley with the series level at 1-1.

Here are 5 reasons why India lost the second ODI at Lord's:

England taking the attack to Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep was still among the wickets but England ensured that they came at a cost

One of the things about international cricket is that players don't take things for granted. And if they know that they have committed a mistake, it usually doesn't take long for the players involved to correct that. Kuldeep Yadav ran rings around England in the first ODI, picking up his career-best ODI figures in the process but this time around, England were ready for him.

Although the chinaman still picked up a wicket off his second ball, two wickets inside his first three overs and finished with three wickets in the second ODI, he also went for plenty of runs. Both Morgan and Root understood the need to attack him and they did so at regular intervals.

From figures of 3-0-11-2 when England's Test and ODI captain first were at the crease, he went for 57 in his next seven overs and picked up just one wicket (off a full toss which should have been hit for six). And when Kohli turned to him for wickets towards the latter stages of the innings, he went wicketless.

India's lack of depth in the pace attack

Kaul hasn't been able to transform his IPL form into success at the ODI level

It is never easy when you miss two of your front-line pacers ahead of an ODI series against the No.1 ranked ODI side in the world. But even without Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, India should have had enough in the tank to ensure that they weren't so sorely missed.

Umesh Yadav and Siddarth Kaul were brilliant in IPL 2018 but looked non-threatening in the second ODI. Far too often, they followed up good balls with hit-me deliveries that released the pressure. And to make matters worse, England went after Hardik Pandya and he couldn't do much about it.

As a result, none of India's seam attack went for less than 6 rpo and Kaul didn't even finish his quota of 10 overs. In 28 overs, the trio of Pandya, Umesh, and Kaul went for 192 runs while picking up just two wickets.

They failed to pick up early wickets and didn't nail their lengths at the death. This is a big concern for India, who were supposed to have good depth in their pace attack. The drop-off in standards will be something that doesn't sit well with Kohli.

Inability to contain England at the death overs

Willey brought up his maiden ODI fifty in the second ODI

228/5 at 40 overs isn't a great score when you are looking to finish with a flourish. At 240/6 from 42 overs, England looked as though they would struggle to get past 300 even with a well-set Joe Root on the verge of scoring a century.

But instead of stifling the England lower order, India let them run riot as David Willey brought up his maiden ODI fifty off just 30 balls and the hosts plundered 82 runs for the loss of just a solitary wicket off the last eight overs.

While it is true that India don't have the death bowling exploits of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah but conceding more than 10 rpo in the last eight overs when you have already picked up six wickets is just criminal. And that final flourish helped the hosts get the momentum going into the second innings.

Virat Kohli's rare off day during a run chase

Kohli showed signs that he might be human after all during the second ODI

When someone averages over 58 after 200 ODIs and is closing in on 10,000 runs in the format, it is almost taken for granted that they will do well in every game. Not helping the cause is a ridiculous run of form in 2018 ODIs that shows an average of 158.25 with three centuries and two fifties in seven ODI innings this year coming into the second ODI.

That and the fact that Virat Kohli holds the record for most centuries while chasing and most centuries in victorious chases means that it is almost taken for granted that he will see India over the line in an ODI run chase. But every once in a while, even someone who has redefined the word consistency will have an off day.

And that off day happened to be the second ODI for Kohli, where he still managed 45, thereby bringing down his average to 135.60 in ODIs this year.

Even the greatest have days when they exhibit signs of being mere mortals. And for Kohli that happened at Lord's and unfortunately, India couldn't come out on top despite that minor blip.

India's middle-order problem

Rahul hasn't really looked at home at the No.4 spot

The openers both missing out happens sometimes. After all, not everyone can be on song, every day. Virat Kohli should have the luxury of not scoring a fifty in a run chase because he is human after all. But when both happen in the same game, India need their middle-order to step up. But that just didn't happen at Lord's.

KL Rahul, who is still getting used to the No.4 role got out for a second-ball duck. Suresh Raina was just four shy of his fifty but he was a long way away from his usual self. When your No.4 and No.5 don't click and you don't really have anyone to rely on with the bat after No.7, you cannot expect your Dhoni to come in at No.6 and take the side home.

Sure, he played an uncharacteristically slow knock but the problem wasn't him but what happened before him. After Pandya was dismissed, he was left with the bowlers and you can't really chase 132 runs in 11 overs if that is the case.

The No.4 slot is still an issue and that is something India must fix while also answer the question of whether Raina will be the No.5 at next year's World Cup and whether it might be time to move Dhoni to No.4 and try Dinesh Karthik at No.6.