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India vs Australia: Last chance for Virat Kohli to sort out middle-order muddle before WC

India vs Australia: Last chance for Virat Kohli to sort out middle-order muddle before ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.

New Delhi, February 18: Team India's preparations for the upcoming ICC World Cup 2019 are entering the final stages as they face Australia in the five one-day international matches, starting March 2. Upbeat with their back-to-back overseas ODI series win in Australia and New Zealand, Virat Kohli and his band would be aiming to continue with their winning momentum.

With just five more ODIs to go before the World Cup, India's middle-order muddle hasn't yet been resolved. In the last four years, India has tried 20 different batsmen in between No. 4 and No. 6 but the team hasn't yet found a settled line-up in the middle-order.

India's top-three comprising Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Kohli has been the leading run-scorers for the side. Their success with the bat is directly proportional to India's victory as the team hardly loses in the game in which the top-three score, be it chasing a total or batting first to set a target.

Off 89 games played in between note 12 Feb 2015 and 12 Feb 2019, India has won 61 of them while lost just 25. The imperious form of these three has also been a reason why India's middle-order hasn't been tested much over a period of time. The team has ended up on the losing side, more often than not, when the top-order failed.

Coach Ravi Shastri and his team management have tried various permutations and combinations in last India's middle-order but it still doesn't look settled.

Ambati Rayudu looks team's first-choice at No. 4 and the Hyderabadi cricketer seems to have performed reasonably well. Ever since his recall in the side for the Asia Cup 2018, the right-handed batsman has played 18 ODIs. Within this period, Rayudu has slammed a ton, missed out on a couple of occasions, and scored 4 fifty-plus scores to present his contention for that ticket to England.

In the last four years, Dhoni is the fourth highest run-scorer for India after the trio of Shikhar-Rohit-Virat. He's scored the most runs (1911) for India in the last four years in the middle-order from 75 games. But a major issue with Dhoni is that the former India captain isn't the finisher he once used to be. The Dhoni of present needs some time to settle down and the 37-year isn't as efficient with rotating the strike but his cricketing acumen hasn't waned. He's still capable of steadying the ship when the top-three fail.

Except for these two, there are names like Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul, Vijay Shankar and Rishabh Pant who are in the reckoning for securing a spot in the middle-order for the English summer but they haven't been tested well.

Jadhav is the second best run-scorer in the middle-order after Dhoni in the last 4 years. But the pint-size batsman from Pune is prone to injuries and hasn't scored too many runs lately. Same is the case with the likes of Karthik, Pandya and Rahul. Pandya could be used as a floater, depending upon the situation of the match and opposition bowlers but his consistency remains a question.

Pant, already being termed as a star in the making and a potential heir to Dhoni, hasn't been given enough opportunities in the 50-overs format but deserves to be on that flight to England. Pant has only played 3 ODIs so far. The team management is looking to giving some match practice to the southpaw, whose aggressive brand of cricket is most suited to English conditions. Pant is also being hailed as Dhoni's heir apparent.

Dinesh Karthik might have been a completely transformed T20 batsman but the Tamil Nadu batsman has squandered the chances he's been given in the 50-overs format. This might have resulted in the veteran failing to secure a place in the series against Australia. This also hints that the wicketkeeper-batsman isn't in the team management's scheme of things for the WC. He'd have to do something exceptional in the domestic tournaments and in the IPL to get that ticket to England.

Karthik's fellow cricketer from state Vijay Shankar's rich vein of form in Australia and New Zealand might draw the attention of the selectors towards him but the all-rounder is also short of match practice.

Karnataka batsman Rahul has been underutilised by the team management and it remains to be seen if the management, as well as the selectors, keep him in their mind while picking WC Lokesh could be used as a backup opener and also in the middle order.

This clearly points out that India's middle-order conundrum is far from sorted and that the team would hope that these players have a decent outing for their respective franchises in the IPL and get some match practice. The home series against the Aussies will clearly give us a hint about the possible India line-up going into the World Cup.

Story first published: Monday, February 18, 2019, 14:30 [IST]
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