The untested middle-order of the Indian team

Batting has always been the strength of the Indian team as they can score or chase any target. But in recent years, there has been some problem with the middle order. They are not being able to capitalise on the start provided by the top order and because of that, the Indian team always struggles to finish.

Problems

Whenever top three players perform well the team also does well, but if the top three fails to score then the team is under a lot of pressure. Every team knows that the Indian batting is all about the top three, they know if they manage to get them quickly then the match is almost over, but it's a rare case because the top three players are super consistent with their performance and hardly they fail in one or two games.

But if we think about this then it's actually a serious problem and the team management needs to address this as soon as possible. This problem has started since the decline of Dhoni as a batsman because he was the finisher of the side and he used to hold this batting line-up together when the top order failed.

But since his decline as a batsman, the Indian middle order has been struggling, because they hardly get any opportunity to bat now as the top three always end up playing almost 35-40 overs and then when it comes to finishing Indian team always struggles as there are no reputed finishers in the side. There is Hardik Pandya but he hasn't really shown the potential with the bat so far. MS Dhoni is struggling to hit those sixes which he used to do before. And so the team always gets stuck when the top three are in the pavilion.

Solution

England Lions v India A - Tri-Series International

The solution for this in my point of view is Rishabh Pant. He has shown a lot of growth in the test cricket as a batsman and now he can be the finisher that Indian team needs because India can't anymore rely on MS Dhoni to finish as he is almost at the end of his career and so there is a lot of pressure on Hardik Pandya to finish the games and so he always ends up throwing his wicket away.

So, with the inclusion of Rishabh Pant in the side can actually be a good decision as he is a left-handed batsman and the team lacks a left-handed batsman in the middle order. But, will he get a chance in this series against West Indies? because of the way Indian top-order has batted in the first ODI, I don't think that the middle order will get too many chances to play. And as we saw in the Asia Cup whenever the top three were dismissed early the team was always under pressure and struggled to get over the line.

What do you think can Rishabh Pant become the finisher in ODI cricket? Tell me your views in the comments section.