As India are 0-3 down in the series Down Under, it can be recalled that they did not have a great 2015 either. Apart from a splendid show at the World Cup, they were disappointing to say the least with losses against Bangladesh, SA and the Tri-Series. The fact that India needs to get back to winning ways is an understatement. Things that were pivotal for India’s success earlier had suddenly disappeared leading to the side’s average performances in 2015.

*India's tour of Zimbabwe, involving 3 ODIs, has not been included in the analysis as the visitors sent a second-rung team for the tour.

India's opener woes

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Out of 20 innings, only 5 times have they crossed 50 runs – the same number of times they fell for single digits. Though they have averaged 40.5 last year, it drops down to a below par 33, when you exclude the 174 vs Ireland. It is pretty clear that the openers have struggled to give good starts regularly. This makes rebuilding the innings and run scoring very difficult time and again for the batsmen to follow.

Slump in form of the top guns

The lack of good starts puts pressure on Kohli on a consistent basis to get things running again. But, Kohli himself hasn’t been at his best compared to his previous years. So, the form of the openers and Kohli combined just makes the work much more difficult for the likes of Raina and Dhoni, even though Rahane has produced some breathtaking knocks.

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Raina has scored a solitary century, along with just four half centuries, in 2015. Though he has averaged a decent 32, and has struck at run-a-ball, his average dips drastically to a not-so-good 25 if his 110* VS Zimbabwe isn’t taken into consideration. This (average of 25) goes to show that, barring his handful of 50+ scores, he hasn’t contributed much to the team. It is this bad form that has cost him his place in the ODI squad against the Aussies.

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Dhoni is also someone who has had a decent year, but hasn’t been at his best, which can be seen from the graph below. So, the middle order, which banks mainly on Dhoni and Raina, hasn’t been in good touch, maybe due to the extra pressure on them by the preceding batsmen.

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Nowadays, the teams are expected to score at least 80 off the last 10. In the matches India has won, they have more often than not scored 80 or above and finished well. During most of their defeats, they have amassed only about 40-60 during that period, implying they haven’t finished well. The fact that the Indian middle order hasn’t done well is reflected through their disappointing results.

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Contribution of the pacers

Indian Bowlers have put in better performances during the World Cup than during the other series. The spirited performances at the opening and death overs during the former can be attributed to the pacers ’ performances, especially Shami. He picked up crucial victims at both stages almost every time along with the support of Yadav and Mohit. Sadly for India, he didn’t take much part in the other series and to add to it, no one else was able to match his performances with the ball and pick up wickets consistently in the other matches. This explains the great bowling performances by India during the WC and the lack of such performances during the other series.

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Looking at the drastic decrease in the stats for overs 11-40, it is clearly evident that India has let the opposition off the hook mainly during the all-important middle period. One might be tempted to conclude that the performances of the spinners might have made the big difference, i.e the spinners’ performances during the other series might not have been good.

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The above numbers show that the spinners have done quite well even during the other series. If the spinners weren’t the problem, then what made the difference?

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The above graph shows that during the middle stages of the WC, the seamers have picked up almost half of the scalps, which shows that they have also taken upon themselves the responsibility to pick up wickets during the crucial middle period and not over rely on the spinners. On the flip side, their contributions in the other two bilateral series have been quite low because they weren’t effective enough and were depending too much on the slow bowlers to do the job. It can be concluded that the bowlers have produced better performances during the WC because of the pacers’ contribution at all stages. India’s success in the tournament can also be attributed to the same reason.

Indian team’s fielding has been very good over the past year but there have been certain instances where they have dropped a few and were made to pay for it. For example, Dhoni dropped Williams (Zim) and he added 50 more to the scoreboard. But, if they have to challenge formidable oppositions, they must make sure they hang on to everything that comes their way.

(Data Courtesy: ESPNcricinfo)

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