Team India opened with wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant in the second ODI of the series against West Indies on Wednesday after KL Rahul replaced Ishan Kishan in the lineup. Rahul, who had opened in the three-match ODI series against South Africa last month, returned to the middle-order in the game.
India's struggles in the middle-order have long continued as the side has faced significant challenges in finding proven finishers – especially in ODIs. Hardik Pandya, who had shown great promise in the finishing role when he arrived in international cricket, has been struggling with consistent injuries over the past few years while all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is also forced to miss India's games due to a knee injury.
Former South African captain Shaun Pollock has now pointed out a potential reason behind a lack of finishing depth in the Indian team.
“I think you guys are fortunate with the wealth of batting abilities. I think the biggest challenge for you, as an Indian side, is going to be finding the right 5 and 6,” Pollock said on Cricbuzz.
“In 50-over format, you got to develop finishers. It is the key. Often, you get the runs from the top order. But who is going to do the job of finishing? I think when (Ravindra) Jadeja comes in, he does that. But in that middle order.. with the amount of T20 cricket being played and when you talk about these guys (Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer), all of them are going to bat in top-3 for their franchise invariably. That doesn't give you the amount of experience in closing the games out,” explained Pollock.
{{/usCountry}}“In 50-over format, you got to develop finishers. It is the key. Often, you get the runs from the top order. But who is going to do the job of finishing? I think when (Ravindra) Jadeja comes in, he does that. But in that middle order.. with the amount of T20 cricket being played and when you talk about these guys (Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer), all of them are going to bat in top-3 for their franchise invariably. That doesn't give you the amount of experience in closing the games out,” explained Pollock.
{{/usCountry}}Suryakumar Yadav bats at number three for the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League. Shreyas Iyer, meanwhile, had largely been a top-order batter for the Delhi Capitals before being released by the franchise ahead of the mega auction.
“I think Hardik Pandya is the one who comes in that middle order. He has had consistent practice of doing that (finishing) in T20s and he could probably translate that to one-day format when he returns. Shreyas Iyer wants to go higher, he wants to bat at top-3. So there's a challenge,” Pollock said.
The former South Africa captain also cited the example of David Miller to further explain his point.
“For example, in the South African side, we have David Miller. (Normally), He has a series where South Africa win one game comfortably and he doesn't get to be on the crease. Then, (in next game) he walks in for the 10 balls in the backend and just smashes it. And then, maybe, in the next game he doesn't get to bat again. But he's the guy for the pressure situations. When you need to get home in the World Cup matches, you have to have the experience and ability to do it. And that's where India need to be conscious of developing,” said Pollock.