3 Reasons why India could struggle in the 2019 World Cup
The year 2019 can be considered as the most coveted year in the cricketing world in recent times as the most illustrious tournament of men’s cricket is just a few months away from taking the center-stage.
After MS Dhoni quit ODI captaincy in early 2017, the Indian men’s cricket team under their new leader Virat Kohli have left no stone unturned in their quest to emerge as an ODI superpower. Along with their dominance in the sub-continent, they’ve managed to get series victories in places like South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
While India are being considered to be front- line contenders to win the WC, there are certain loopholes in their ODI setup which can turn out to be the reason for a major disappointment in the tournament. Here’s a look at the 3 main reasons why India will struggle to win the World Cup.
#1 Inconsistent middle-order
India have been the most consistent side in the One day format since the CT '17 Final loss against Pakistan. However, if there has been one area which has constantly hurt India, it definitely has to be the uncertainty in the middle order.
After trying and testing out many options for the no. 4 slot including the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Manish Pandey, KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik, India apparently consider Ambati Rayudu as the answer to their woes.
Going by Rayudu’s stats, it would seem he is the perfect answer to the middle order conundrum. But as they say, numbers don’t speak everything.
Rayudu along with MS Dhoni tend to play too many dots at the start of their innings. While this approach maybe helpful in arresting a collapse, it doesn’t always work out. In a high-scoring game, the 10-15 dots that they face can well be the difference between winning and losing a game.
Along with this, India have often found themselves guilty of not accelerating in the last 10 overs in recent times. Kedar Jadhav and Hardik Pandya have shown signs of overcoming this problem in the recently concluded NZ series. But the question remains: Can they do this on a consistent basis?