Who'll bat at numbers 4, 5 and 6 for India in this World Cup has been the subject of much speculation. In fact, it has been a hot topic for some time now and despite India cruising through to the semi-finals doesn't show any signs of dissipating.
I mentioned the fact that India had used 10 players in these middle order positions over the last year in one of my recent blogs and shared that stat alongside the infographic on a variety of other social media sites and cricket forums. It received a good reaction but a few fans wanted to see more. Therefore I've expanded the sample size to cover the last 2 years prior to the World Cup starting going all the way back to India's run to the final of the 2017 Champions Trophy Final.
As you can see expanding it out over 2 years brings a further 4 players onto the list.
MS Dhoni
Only MS Dhoni has been a constant within that middle order throughout the period. His role in the team is probably the hottest topic amongst Indian cricket fans at the moment and there is no doubt that his striking ability is not what it once was. His S/R in the 2 year period is down 8 points on his career average of 87.7 and he has not hit a century in that time.
Undoubtedly Dhoni is performing a different role for the side than he did in his earlier career. Personally, I feel he is still a crucial part of this Indian side's success both with what he brings with the bat and his leadership on the field.
Kedar Jadhav
India seem to have decided quite early that Jadhav was an important part of the set-up and of course injury has prevented him from playing a full part in ODIs over the last couple of years. As well as having one of the better averages and strike-rates, Jadhav also plays the role of 6th bowler for India and is particularly useful on slower sub-continent style wickets.
However, the 34-year-old has struggled to have an impact on this World Cup scoring just 80 runs from the 99 balls he has faced and bowling only 6 wicketless overs in the tournament.
Hardik Pandya
Almost half his innings in that period have come at number 7 but it is clear from the role he has played in the World Cup that India plan to give him greater responsibility up the order when the time is right. In fact, Pandya has the 2nd highest S/R of the World Cup (min 50 balls). India need to get him up the order as often as possible
Ambati Rayudu
You can see why Rayudu was a bit miffed at not only being overlooked initially but then missing out on a call-up following the injuries to Dhawan and Shankar. He has been India's most consistent performer at number 4 in the run-up to the tournament. Despite a lull in early 2019 and in the IPL it could be argued that the selectors should show a little more faith in him.
Into the future.........
In regards the immediate future it seems that India have decided that Rishabh Pant will undertake a key role in the Indian middle order for the remainder of the World Cup. It's tempting to ask why then he wasn't included from the off ahead of the likes of Dinesh Karthik? Certainly having his and Pandya's striking ability alongside the calming influences of Dhoni and Jadhav makes India's middle order look far more dangerous than it did at the start of the tournament.
Of course, longer-term both Dhoni and Jadhav will need to be replaced as India look to build a squad to win the World Cup on home soil in 4 years time. Presumably, Pant will take the keeping gloves and could well drop down to number 5 in the order meaning that India are looking for a high-class number 4 and number 6 with at least one of those players ideally able to bowl some overs.
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