5 unanswered questions for the No.1 ODI team

The Indian ODI team has recently completed an emphatic 5-1 series victory over South Africa to displace them from the No.1 ranking in ODIs. India have been playing extremely well over the last few months, winning one series after the other.

There have been many amazing performances which have led to this, but there are still some questions that remain unanswered. As they head to a few more tough tours before the ultimate goal of winning the World cup next year, here are the top 5 things they need to look at:

What will be Ajinkya Rahane's Role now?

Rahane : The long-standing fringe player?

Rahane, who is considered to be one of the best batsmen in the Test team for India, has always been fighting for his place in the ODI team.

Despite phenomenal consistency at No.4 in the previous tour, India have tagged him as a reserve opener, and are searching for a No.4 in the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey and others. While he may not be able to go at a strike rate of 100, but he could be the best choice if you expect your No.4 batsman to stabilize the innings, and not throw his wicket away.

Why can't MS Dhoni be the No.4 batsman for India?

MSD : The Ex-Finisher

While Dhoni is a proven legend of the game and it is quite difficult to get him out, it is no longer a secret that we cannot expect him to play his shots right from ball one and he needs time to settle down.

So why not have him as your No.4 batsman, who can steady the ship in case of 2-3 early wickets and build his innings. It could be a welcome change for him as well, as he has not been getting much time in the middle. Moreover, Dhoni can be followed by more aggressive batsmen in the line up to attack in the final overs.

What are the expectations from Hardik Pandya, the all-rounder?

Hardik Pandya : The bowler who can bat or the batsman who can bowl?

Labelled as the player who can play the role that Ben Stokes plays for England, Hardik Pandya had shown a lot of promise in the initial days of his career, but he has not shown much consistency in his role.

His batting is becoming more and more a hit-or-miss effort, where he has been throwing his wicket away too easily, going after everything. His bowling is giving decent returns, but the wickets are not coming from exceptional deliveries.

So, can Pandya be the No. 6 batsman in the team who can consistently contribute 30-35 quick runs to the team total, or he has to be treated as the fifth bowler, whose runs are just a bonus?

How will this team chase a 350 run target?

Tall Chases have made India Crumble

The current template of batting slowly at the start and maintaining the momentum in the middle overs has worked quite well while batting first to set up targets upto 300-320, and chasing totals less than 300, but what happens when you have a massive target to chase?

India have failed to do it on two critical occasions, the 2015 World cup Semi Final (arget of 329) and the Champions trophy Final (target 339). This may need some experimentation with the batting order or the batting style, but India cannot afford to fall in such a situation again without having any answers.

How long can the spin Twins keep the magic going?

The Spin Twins

The X-factor of the spin twins, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal has worked wonders for India, with the South African line up having no answers to their bowling, with the duo doing most of the damage in all their victories.

But one must not forget that this magic could subside once the batsmen are able to decode them, which has happened with many spinners in the past. While they are full of skill and promise, it could become tough for them if some good batting line-ups are ready to face the challenge by the 2019 World Cup.