Mission 2019 in jeopardy?

"There is no middle order or lower order in Indian batting. It's always about the top order"

Well, yesterday’s match between India and West-Indies proved the fact. Apart from Kohli, no one stood up for a fight with the Caribbeans. First,

let me say a few words about the run Machine-Virat Kohli who recently completed 10,000 runs in ODIs and mind you- he took fewer innings than the god of cricket Sachin Tendulkar. The enigmatic batting which comprises- the will, the determination, the hunger to achieve more, is growing in stature. Records are getting smashed. Three consecutive centuries speak tons of volume about his batting depth. (He’s only behind Kumar Sangakkara in this regard, who achieved a rare feat of scoring four consecutive centuries in ODIs). Moreover he’s not the one to back out of any challenge and his team mates need to learn a lot from him.

However, being completely dependent on a single person is certainly not given in any book. I mean they are no. 2 side for God’s sake. It’s not as if India can’t do anything without Kohli. Recently held Asia Cup demonstrated that in his absence too, they can perform (when they won the cup). But please notice the fact that Dhawan was the highest run getter of the tournament and Rohit was number two. That’s what I am trying to emphasize. Whenever two out of these three pillars perform, India is very much in the game. However, when this doesn’t happen-some crisis is bound to happen.

Now let’s talk about India’s middle order. At a time when opposition lower orders are performing well on the international platform, be it the Windies’s lower order in yesterday’s match (From 227—8 they managed to score 283) or in the Ind-Eng series held recently, the inconsistency shown by Indian middle order is not acceptable. In fact the opposition’s lower order is giving a tough time to Indian bowlers. Is it the inability of Indian bowlers or the sheer brilliance of the lower order batsmen is a different question altogether.  And so it is a matter of grave concern for India especially when the top order fails. Suppose that happens at a crucial time (Semi-final or final of an important tournament), then who will take up the responsibility? Well someone has to.

Now talking about the team selection-I mean someone should show the utterance. The exclusion of KL Rahul, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Kartik is beyond me. They performed brilliantly in IPL. (Jadhav played only one match but he made that one count in the season opener). If you are judging purely on the basis of England series, then why is Dhawan still in the team? He also didn’t do well in England. Some players needs to get some serious backing otherwise they might not be able to perform up-to their potential with a constant fear of being dropped from the team on the basis of a single innings/series.

The world cup is near and it’s in the Round Robin format this time (plus the England pitches factor) which clearly implies that this one is going to be a competitive one. If some serious steps are not taken, then unfortunately Cup will not be ours. After all it’s not everyone’s cup of tea to hold that prestigious trophy!!