Indian team more often than not depends on batting to win matches. India has a lot of talent in batting and over the years players have delivered. The likes of AJiynake Rahane, Virat Kohli, Murali Vijay, KL Rahul are future batting stars. Virat Kohli scored 4 Test centuries in Australia, 2014/15 series, Rahane did a great job with the bat and Murali Vijay had done well in Test matches against Australia.
The Indian team who lost 2 matches against Bangladesh and a semi-final of the World Cup 2015 had one thing in commom – the big players failed. Virat Kohli who is known to be best while chasing runs has lost his plot; not scoring a fifty in the last 10 innings. The Indian team did a great job with the bat in World Cup, but when the big matches came the batting crumbled under pressure and lost by a big margin. Indian batting needs to contribute more if they have to do well against strong teams like South Africa and Australia
Here we look the India’s batting performances in the last 15 One day Internationals:
1. Shikhar Dhawan
Shikhar Dhawan has scored 635 runs at an average of 42.33. He has scored 2 centuries during this period. His centuries came against South Africa in World Cup 2015 group stage match and one against Irleand. Apart from that he had a quite season in the past 15 matches.
2. Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma the other opener has scored 874 runs at an average of 67.23. In this period he scored 3 centuries. His centuries came against Australia in Commonwealth Bank series, 137 against Bangladesh in the quarter finals of World Cup 2015 and 264 not out against Sri Lanka in Kolkata.
3. Virat Kohli
The number 3 batsmen scored 492 runs with an average of 44.72. In this period he has scored 2 centuries. These centuries came against Pakistan in the opening match of World Cup 2015 and 139 not out against Sri Lanka in the 5 match ODI series.
4. Rahane
Rahane the number 4 player have scored 424 runs with an average of 32.61. In this period he has 0 centuries to his name. His batting performances in One day International was brilliant hitting the fastest bowler of World Dale Steyn straight down the wicket. He has contributed to the Indian team immensely.
5. Suresh Raina
Suresh Raina the number 5 player has scored 506 runs with an average of 38.92. He has scored 1 century during this period against Zimbabwe. He is a useful One day International player and can fit in the team with his power hitting and the ability to raise the tempo of the innings
6. MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni the captain of the Indian team has scored 453 runs with an average of 37.75. He has scored 0 centuries during this period. His batting form has been cause of concern.
7. Ravindra Jadeja
Ravindra Jadeja comes at lower order has scored 263 runs at average of 26.30. He has scored 0 centuries. He has not able to contribute for the team and was a big letdown for the Indian in the World Cup 2015 not performing according to potential.