5 reasons why India are still not ready for the World Cup 2019
It was the ODI series loss against England that left India pondering over a lot of unanswered question, especially after gaining a 1-0 lead in the 3-match series and then failing to capitalize on the lead.
With the Cricket World Cup 2019 scheduled to be staged in this part of the world in less than 12 months’ time, Virat Kohli and his men need to address some issues in order to repeat their heroics of the 2011 World Cup.
After the first ODI at Trent Bridge, India was termed as firm favourites to win the series, before England staged an inspiring comeback to silence all their critics in their inability to play the wrist spin. The Three Lions proved too good for the visitors and showed everyone how they have played ruthless cricket in past 2 years or so.
This was indeed an alarming call for the men in blue as even the skipper termed his team as unprepared for the World Cup next year. We take a look what must have prompted Virat to say so as some of the reasons why India still isn’t fully prepared to regain the title at the big stage:
#5 Over-dependency on the top 3 batsmen
It is often said in white ball cricket that batsmen at the top of the order fancy more chances of scoring the bulk of the team’s runs and it is true in the most sense. But on occasions when they tend to falter, it becomes the responsibility of the middle-order to steady the ship. But the men in blue have lacked this quality and rely more on their top three batsmen to do the job for the side, more often than not.
In the past two years, when scores have read 50 for 3 or 100 for 4, the Indian team has always struggled as the middle order has failed to contribute for the team’s cause. Be it the finals of the Champions Trophy or India’s recent loss against England at Lord’s, the middle order couldn’t defy a loss, just because the top order looked in all sorts of trouble. It is one of the major reason that India’s top three are the mainstays of the batting line up. The team finds themselves devoid of any certain match winner who can rescue the side from all sorts of danger.