India vs Australia: 3 Reasons why India lost the third ODI even after Kohli's century

After two wins in the first two games of the series, India had their eyes on a series win as well as a #1 rank in the ODIs. However, they failed to do so, because of their sloppy work in the field and a very good effort in all departments by the Australians.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and decided to bowl first in Ranchi. India went unchanged from last game while Australia had Jhye Richardson coming in for Nathan Coulter-Nile.

Australian openers started on a great note. After surviving a few close calls, out of form Aaron Finch got in his groove as well. Khawaja and Finch rotated the strike consistently and hit a lot of boundaries. Just when it looked like Australia will easily get to 350, India fought back in the middle overs. Despite a huge opening partnership of 193, Australia could only manage 313/5 in their 50 overs.

Indian openers failed to give the ideal start to the team. Wickets kept falling on the other end, but Virat Kohli stayed at the crease and scored with ease. First Dhoni, then Kedar Jadhav and Vijay Shankar supported Kohli but none of them could make a significant contribution. The Indian captain produced another masterclass in chasing and in the process completed his 41st ODI ton. Unfortunately, his wonderful efforts went in vain as Australia won the ODI by 32 runs.

Let’s have a look at the 3 reasons why India lost the 3rd ODI

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#3 Australia's opening partnership:

Usman Khawaja

For the last few months, Indian opening bowlers have consistently given India early breakthroughs. They haven’t allowed opposition openers to settle down and have sent them back to the pavilion for a cheap score. However, the duo of Shami and Bumrah was unable to do so today.

Despite some early blemishes, Aaron Finch managed to survive the initial burst from the Indian bowlers. Him and Khawaja made full use of the good batting conditions. They rotated the strike very well and did not let a bad ball go unpunished.

Once settled, they did not allow the Indian spinners to settle down. All three of Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, and Kedar Jadhav were put under pressure from their first over. Australian openers scored runs without much difficulty against them as they did not ball at their best.

#2 Indian openers failed again:

Shikhar Dhawan

It’s no secret that India’s strength lies in its top order. Over the last few years, India has been a great chasing side mainly due to their famed top three. More often than not, at least one of the Shikhar Dhawan or Rohit Sharma do the job of scoring along Virat Kohli.

But since the last few matches, both the openers have been unable to make a significant contribution. Rohit still has some decent scores under his best but Dhawan has been unable to get going at all.

At Ranchi, Dhawan never looked in rhythm. He wasn’t allowed any boundaries in the first few balls. Like most out of form players do, the Delhi opener tried to break away from the shell and played a wrong shot which lead to his downfall.

On the other hand, Rohit was looking good at the start and played a couple of delightful strokes. Although, he was undone by an inswinger by Pat Cummins when he was trapped in front of the stumps.

#1 No Significant Contribution In Middle Order

Ambati Rayudu

When a team loses openers early while chasing a big score, they need a big contribution from the middle order. Even for a team like India which has Virat Kohli in it, they needed another big inning from someone else.

Unfortunately for India, no one except the captain could even cross 50. Ambati Rayudu never looked convincing at the crease. He struggled to find the middle the ball and was finally knocked over by Pat Cummins.

While MS Dhoni started well and looked good to score a big knock at his home-ground, he lost his wicket, trying playing a rash shot. The same applies to Kedar Jadhav who looked convincing in his stay at the crease. He rotated the strike well but played a poor shot under critical circumstances.

Vijay Shankar played a solid knock but the increasing run rate meant Kohli had to do the most of the scoring. Finally, the pressure of scoring got to him and he lost his wicket in the bid to get closer to the target.