India vs Australia, 5th ODI: 5 Talking Points

#3 India’s middle spectacularly unravels, again

India's middle order fell away again

India has most bases covered when it comes to ODI cricket. Their top three is one of the most fearsome in the world while the variety in their bowling line-up is unrivalled. However, one aspect they haven’t been able to correct over the years has been their middle order. And on Wednesday, the brittleness of India’s middle order reared its ugly head again.

Kohli and Dhawan failed to muster substantial scores with the bat and hence, the onus fell on the likes of Pant and Shankar. The duo though, ended up contributing just 32 runs between them and their dismissals opened the door for Australia to come back into the game.

Though Jadhav admirably stood strong in the face of adversity, it was a classic case of ‘too little, too late’.

In the past few months, several names have been thrown into the middle order hat. Yet, none of them has inspired any confidence. Thus, the Indian team is in a real fix heading into the World Cup.

While the hosts still have adequate quality to correct their deficiencies, one wouldn’t be too surprised if their middle muddle ends up being their Achilles heel in England.