With only two months remaining until the 2023 ODI World Cup, India is gearing up to host the tournament for the fourth time. The ‘Men in Blue’ will have an outside pressure to secure victory and break their 10-year-long drought in ICC trophies. On the other side, the team management is still in the process of determining the ideal lineup for the tournament as many players of the current lineup have been injured.
The former Indian all-rounder
Yuvraj Singh pointed out the concerns about India’s middle-order batting before the upcoming cricketing spectacle. He expressed that the team will likely encounter difficulties in high-pressure situations once again if this issue is not solved. India’s middle-order has repeatedly faltered in crucial matches over the past decade and this has been the primary factor which has helped India in winning the ICC trophy.
“I can be a patriot and say ‘India will win because I am an Indian.’ But I see a lot of concerns in the Indian middle order because of injuries. If those concerns are not resolved, we will struggle, especially in pressure games. Don’t experiment in pressure games. The skill work to bat in the middle order is very different from that of an opener. Is there anybody there (in the team management) who is working around the guys that will be playing in the middle order?,” Yuvraj said on the Cricket Basu YouTube channel.
India heavily depends on their top-order batsmen and Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are the primary ones. Recently, during the first ODI against West Indies in Barbados, despite chasing 115 runs for victory, Rohit and Virat chose not to bat. Unfortunately, this strategy backfired as India lost five wickets in what seemed like an uncomplicated chase. Then, Rohit Sharma came and scored run for India and took the team home.
Due to injuries of KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, and Rishabh Pant, India are experimenting with their middle-order lineup have not got any valuable result. Suryakumar Yadav excelled in T20Is but have struggled to replicate his impressive performance in ODIs. The team led by Rohit Sharma is already facing considerable pressure, and the absence of a stable middle-order has raised problem for team India before the upcoming ODI World Cup.
