During the first two ODIs against Australia, Indian top-order batsmen faced a significant challenge in the form of left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc. Despite Captain Rohit Sharma’s refusal to view this as a consistent pattern of failure against all left-arm pacers, Starc’s performances were nothing short of remarkable.
In the first ODI in Mumbai, Mitchell Starc ripped through the Indian top order with a three-wicket burst, although it ultimately proved futile. However, in the second ODI, he put up a formidable 5/53 performance, which set up Australia’s comprehensive 10-wicket victory over the home side.
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These two performances by Mitchell Starc yet again highlighted the struggles of India’s top order, which is primarily composed of right-handed batsmen, when facing left-arm quicks. This is not the first time the team has encountered this issue, with bowlers like Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and New Zealand’s Trent Boult causing significant problems for the Indian top-order in crucial games in the past.
Rohit Sharma Refuses To Believe Any Struggle Against Left Arm Pacers Despite Failure Against Mitchell Starc
According to Rohit Sharma, there is no cause for concern for the team management at the moment regarding the Indian top-order batsmen’s struggles against left-arm pacers despite their failure against Mitchell Starc. The captain asserted that right-arm fast bowlers have also posed significant challenges for the Indian batters in the past, implying that it is not an issue specific to left-arm pacers.
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“When you have a quality bowler in the opposition, he is bound to take wickets. He is trying his best to get your best players out. Whether it’s a left-arm or a right-arm, they will get wickets. The right arms have troubled us well, nobody talks about it,”
“We don’t look too much into the left-arm or the right-arm — wickets are wickets. If you lose wickets, it is a concern. We will look into all sorts of things: how we are getting out, what we need to do, how we can come up with better plans, better methods against the seamers.”
“In hindsight, if you look at it, it is a possibility. It is a game where something can work for you and something will not. If Jadeja or Axar or any other left-hander would have gone up the order and got out, then things would have been spoken a little differently. That is how this game works, I know that,” the captain said.
“When things don’t happen, there are a lot of thoughts that can come (in). But we try and get the best players out there in the middle to go and face this challenge. It didn’t work out today for us, maybe it won’t be the same in Chennai, who knows,” he added.
“You know, the last six ODIs, if I remember a lot of the top order (batsmen) got big runs. When we really need to look into it, we will definitely look into it.” With the series now levelled at 1-1 with one game left to play, the two teams will head to Chennai for the series decider to be played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Tuesday.
Following their significant loss, India will be looking to make a strong comeback in the third and final ODI of the series. With each team winning one game, the final match is expected to be a thrilling affair before we transition to yet another exciting season of the Indian Premier League.
