India vs Australia 2019: 3 mistakes by India that cost them the ODI series

Australia came for fifth ODI after a strong performance in the last game. Especially after winning the record chase at Mohali, they clearly looked the strong side in the decider. The Australia captain Aaron Finch won the toss and elected to bat first.

Usman Khawaja continued his brilliance with the bat and scored his second century in three ODIs. Peter Handscomb was the only other notable performer for Australia as he scored another half-century in this series. Apart from these two, there were not many notable performances from the visiting side. Indian bowlers exceeding well to restrict Australia for 9/272 in 50 overs.

As it was a tricky chase, India needed a decent start. India lost both Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli early in the innings. Rohit Sharma showed some resilience with the bat and scored a half-century. However, the other middle order players failed to capitalize on the opportunity. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kedar Jadhav promising innings but it was not enough as India lost the decider by 35 runs and lost their first ODI series since 2015 at home.

This was also Kohli's first ODI series loss at home as a captain. India made some tactical errors which cost them this series.

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#3 Too many changes to the side

Ravindra Jadeja

This is India's last series before the World Cup. So one can expect a lot of experiments from India and it was seen in the last few matches. In the process of finding the right balance, India went on to make quite a lot of changes.

They tried KL Rahul in the fourth ODI at number three which did not go well. Ravindra Jadeja was dropped in the fourth ODI and was brought back in the fifth ODI which clearly showed that India missed the genuine all-rounder like Hardik Pandya. India's front line spinner Yuzvendra Chahal managed to play only one game.

So, India seems all over the place when it comes to team selection.

#2 Vijay Shankar batting position

Vijay Shankar

India promoted Vijay Shankar in the second ODI. He played beautifully before he got run out in an unlucky manner. He looked very fluent in the middle. When every one was vouching him to bat at number four in the next ODI, he was demoted to low down the order. It clearly stated that the Men in Blue never had a clear plan for him.

He looks like a middle order batsman, but due to swapping and changing, the Tamil Nadu all-rounder looked a bit confused about whether to play the finisher's role or the anchor's role. Indian team could have pushed him to number four in last three games, which might have given them a clarity whether he can sort out India's number four issue.

Now playing him all over the batting order, the home team will go to World Cup with an unsettled middle order and it might not be great sight ahead of the mega tournament.

#1 Not utilizing KL Rahul properly

KL Rahul

KL Rahul was back to the Indian side after strong performances in the India A matches. He showed the glimpse of his form in the T20I series as well. However, India chose him for only one game, that too at number three in third ODI. If India is looking for him as the back up opener for the World Cup, then they should have tried him at the top at least for few games.

India did really well by swapping Rohit and Dhawan in the T20I series which gave a good opportunity to Rahul. But, they failed to replicate the same strategy in the ODI series. If India had made him play a few games, they would have allowed some time for Dhawan to re-think about his form as he managed to perform well in only one game in this series.

If India had thought slightly different on these three aspects, it could have been a different story in this ODI series.