The defeat in the fourth One-Day International against Australia on Thursday (September 28) not only snapped India’s nine-match winning streak but also exposed the weakest link in the team once again.
The Men in Blue have lost just three of the 16 One-Day Internationals they have played this year, but despite the impressive record, the team’s middle-order has been a constant matter of concern.
The fourth match was another opportunity to get a stock of the middle order’s abilities, but while it showed early promise, it ultimately fizzled out, as India lost the game by 21 runs. Chasing a daunting 334, India were off to a flying start with Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane adding 106 runs for the first wicket but losing wickets at crucial junctures hurt the team’s cause. Hardik Pandya, once again promoted at four, Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav played handy knocks, but none of them capitalised on the start.
However, captain Virat Kohli was not too critical of the middle order’s performance and even lauded the 78-run partnership between Pandya and Jadhav.
“When all of us had gotten out, when Hardik and Kedar were batting, we thought this was the ideal situation for them. To understand how the game can be taken till the end. They did really good job with that partnership,” Kohli said in the post-match press conference.
At the same time, the India skipper did not take anything away from the Australian bowlers who kept things tight throughout the innings despite being on the backfoot initially when Rohit and Rahane were going great guns.
“I think Australia’s bowling was quite good. They got breakthroughs at the right time, and that really stopped our momentum especially when Kedar and Hardik were going well. If they had put on 40-50 more, it would have been ideal for us. That’s exactly what we were seeking, but things don’t go your way all the time,” Kohli felt.
India made several changes in the playing eleven for the penultimate clash of the series. While the batting order remained the same, the pace bowling duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar was replaced by Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami while Kuldeep Yadav made way for Axar Patel. The move did not pay off well, as India ended up conceding 334 runs.
When asked about the reason behind tinkering with the winning combination, Kohli said:
“We’ve won the series, and you have to try guys out at some stage. You need to test your bench strength as well, and you need to give those guys game time. I think Umesh bowled well; even Shami bowled well. Umesh even picked up four wickets, and it would have been a bit more than what he would have expected himself.”
“In hindsight, if you lose, I’m not someone who sits and thinks maybe I shouldn’t have done this. You try, you go for something, if it doesn’t work make another plan and you go for it again putting all your belief in it. That’s exactly what I think and what the whole squad thinks,” Kohli opined.