ICC World Cup 2019: Potential answers to India's old and new muddles

New Problems

The recent form of some of the players not so encouraging

While the old problems continue to haunt India, some new issues have surfaced in the just-concluded ODI series against Australia.

# The failure of the openers – Of late, both the Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have been inconsistent, more so while chasing.

# Inconsistent middle-order – In the absence of MS Dhoni for the last two ODIs, the Indian middle-order looked brittle. The failure of the Indian middle-order to force the pace against the Aussie spinners was quite evident.

# Inability to chase down targets - Though Kohli claims India to be the best chasing side, their recent records don’t suggest so. Whenever the other side posted a score of beyond 250, India struggled to chase even on helpful batting conditions. The failure of the openers followed by the inconsistent middle-order didn’t help India’s cause. It is a pity to note that even on home turf India has to rely on winning the toss to win the match.

# The failure of the wrist-spinners – Playing two wrist-spinners in tandem hasn’t been as effective as in the past even in home conditions. The wrist-spinners travelled the distance making them an expensive option.

# The insecurity behind the wickets - Pant’s presence in the last two ODIs has created a sense of insecurity for the Indian spinners behind the wicket. The results of the series could have been different had Pant been more alert behind the wickets.