David Warner reveals the reason why India lost ODI series to Australia

Australia international David Warner has weighed in on the reason why India couldn’t win their ODI series against Australia despite a commanding 2-0 lead

India lost their recent five-match ODI series against Australia 2-3 at home despite taking an imposing 2-0 lead after the first two games.

India's Rohit Sharma looks at his hands after his bat slipped and he was stumped out during the final ODI against Australia. (AP)

There has been much debate about what went wrong for India in the latter stages of the series as they capitulated against Australia.

And now Australia international David Warner, who is serving a one-year ban from international cricket for ball-tampering scandal during a Test in South Africa last year, has weighed in that the Indian side came a cropper because of the absence of Mahendra Singh Dhoni from the last two matches in Mohali and Delhi.

Dhoni was rested for the final two games, handing Rishabh Pant the wicketkeeping duties.

“We know MS wasn’t playing the last couple of games and you know from the Australian point of view, I thought ‘that’s a big gap, a big hole and we’ve got a chance”, Warner told India Today.

“That’s the impact one player like him has from an opposition’s point of view. These are the headaches a lot of teams will have when they are selecting their 15 [for the 2019 World Cup],” Warner added.

Warner missed the last edition of the Indian Premier League as it came hot on the heels of the ball-tampering saga in South Africa. However, he will be back donning the Sunrisers Hyderabad jersey this year. Warner, who captained the side before last year, will play under the stewardship of New Zealand international Kane Williamson.

Sunrisers Hyderabad open their IPL 2019 campaign against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens on 24 March.