For the past two or three years, the team India has been doing in the middle order remains the same. Well, when the team is in the form, its top-ranked batsmen are enough, but whenever they are expected of the middle order, they are deceived. The Indian team's mid-order performance against Afghanistan in the World Cup has forced them to reconsider their forward strategy. India will take on the West Indies in the next match at the Old Trafford Stadium on Thursday. Their bowlers have bowled short balls in this tournament, so the middle order will have to show a stronger and stronger game. so that India does not have the same fate as Afghanistan.
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After searching and experimenting in this World Cup since 2015, Vijay Shankar has been able to bat fourth in the fifth, but his utility is showing more in bowling and fielding than batting. Lokesh Rahul was fourth against South Africa, while Hardik Pandya got the responsibility against Australia and Pakistan. The match against New Zealand was washed out by the rain. The second wicket fell to around 35 overs in these two matches so Pandya was downed but later a weak Afghanistan made our middle order weakness. It was not pleasant to see former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni fall into the trap of Afghan spinner Rashid Khan, especially at the end of his career.
For your information, the whole team has failed to find a solution to the middle-order problem since the last World Cup. The lack of speed in the run speed has created a mess in the Indian team. Well, the bowlers, who saved the team from being embarrassed by the strong contenders for the title against a weak team. Being the world's best top-ranked team has also failed to benefit. For a long time Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, and Kohli have been scoring two-thirds of the team's total score but rarely managed to score middle-order runs if needed. That's why India recorded its second-lowest run rate (4.6) after batting first 25 overs after the 2015 World Cup against Afghanistan. After the last World Cup, when India's top three batsmen were out for less than 100 runs, the team scored 280 runs or more in total twice. England, Australia and New Zealand have done it five times, which ranks among the world cup's most powerful contenders.
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