5 Indian players who should be given a chance to play at No. 5 in ODIs
India recently lost the ODI series against England, and India's middle order was miserable in the entire series. This is an issue that has been going on since 2011 and it requires urgent attention and serious discussion ahead of the 2019 World Cup.
The Indian team management has failed completely in finding the players that could bat solidly in the middle order for the team.
Ever since Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh lost their touch, India have found it hard to replace these batsmen. The constant shuffling between the selected batsmen is making the situation worse for India, with even MS Dhoni suffering a loss in form. Therefore India desperately needs players that can show consistency in the middle order.
One such position where they need a new player is at five in the batting order. A number five batsman should have the ability to build an innings if the wickets fall early. He should also be able to take full advantage of death overs by scoring maximum runs in those overs. India currently has one of the worst run-rates in the death overs.
Inda should show faith in the youngsters and back them, even if they fail initially. Here are the five players that should be given chance to play at no. 5 in ODIs for India.
#5 Hanuma Vihari
Hanuma Vihari is one of the most consistent middle-order batsmen in India's domestic circuit. In his 56 List-A matches, Vihari has scored 2268 runs at an average of 47.25 including four hundreds. Vihari is an underrated batsman, who has been constantly ignored by everyone in the management, despite showing consistency in the domestic circuit. India should consider him for selection for the national side.
Vihari was also excellent in the recently completed India A tour of England. He scored a blazing 147 runs off 131 balls in a match against West India A, which took India A to a target of 354 from a tough situation at 28 for 2. He scored 253 runs in the entire tri-series tournament, which included a fifty and a hundred.
Vihari has shown the selectors that he knows how to bat in the middle order with a sense of responsibility. Vihari should be rewarded for his consistency, and who knows, he might provide some fruitful results.