5 Indians who could have made a difference in the ODI series

India have been handed yet another defeat. Another top order century, this time, two, went in vain as Indian bowlers and a fragile middle order fail to carry on the good work done by the batsmen. From 270/1 in 37 overs, India slumped to 323 all-out while chasing Australia’s 348/8. If one had to explain this loss in two words, most would use the word “Brain Fade”. The shot selection was really poor by the Indian batsmen, trying to go “glory-hunting” while they could have simply done it in singles. We look at a few Indian players who could’ve made a difference on this tour but didn’t make a cut. 1. Irfan Pathan: Irfan Pathan took 17 wickets in Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament. Indian bowlers have largely struggled to defend anything that their batsmen have scored this series. They have hardly been able to get any lateral movement from the wickets. Around the same time, Irfan Pathan has struck form. He has been one of the keys to Baroda’s success in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy where Baroda ended as runners-up. Irfan was the highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 17 wickets in 10 games at an average of 15.76. With the bat too he didn’t do too badly scoring 200 runs at an average of 40 with a strike rate of 152.67. Pathan has been able to swing the ball in the air and off the surface. He could’ve provided with some lower-order hitting and wickets at the top, something that India wanted so dearly in this series. 2. Hardik Pandya: Hardik Pandya earned his maiden India call-up for the T20Is in Australia at the back of some brilliant big hitting during the IPL and then following it up in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Pandya was the highest run-getter with 377 runs, scoring with an average of 53.85; he also maintained a very healthy strike rate of 130.90. India could’ve shown faith in him and picked him for the ODIs too instead of carrying 4 spin options in Jadeja, Gurkeerat, Ashwin and Axar. He bowls in the higher-130s range and is quite an effective outfielder. His all round skills could’ve been utilised by the Indian team, especially the big hitting at the back end of the innings, something that India has struggled with during the series. 3. Harbhajan Singh: Indian player Harbhajan Singh. (Photo by Satish Bate/Hindustan Times via Getty Images) Harbhajan who didn’t play an ODI for almost four years made his comeback in the series against Zimbabwe last year. Then during the home series against South Africa, he was asked to fill in place of an injured Ravichandran Ashwin. Leading the Indian spin attack, Bhajji took 6 wickets at an average of 35.33, the best among Indian bowlers and an economy rate of 5.30, only Axar Patel had a slightly better economy of 5.27. Harbhajan’s away record too is much better than the two prime spinning options the Indian team toured with. He averages 32.84 away from home compared to Ashwin’s 43.75 and Jadeja’s 47.88. Moreover, Dhoni could’ve used Bhajji’s experience in pressure situations as he loves the challenge of bowling to batsmen who try to take him on. He too is in the T20I team and makes you wonder how differently things would’ve panned out if he was in the ODI side as well. 4. Suresh Raina: (Photo Source: PTI) Many say the Gurkeerat Singh Mann is a like for like replacement for Suresh Raina, an attacking batsman who can bowl you a few overs. Mann, in the 2 ODIs he’s played has been disappointing with the bat, especially in the 4th ODI where ones and twos would’ve sufficed, he got out for a nothing shot and put his team under immense pressure. Raina had a poor series against South Africa, but prior to that, he had a good World Cup in Australia & New Zealand where he played crucial knocks against Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh which could’ve made the selectors trust Raina on this tour. With Dhoni out of form, an experienced Raina could’ve bolstered a weak Indian middle-order, plus his bowling and exceptional fielding skills save you at least 20 runs even if he doesn’t score. 5. Yuvraj Singh: Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh. (Photo by MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP/Getty Images) The man who won India 2 World Cups, Yuvraj Singh is probably still the cleanest hitter of the cricket ball. Yuvraj had been in good form during the Vijay Hazare Trophy scoring 346 runs in 6 innings at an average of 69.20 and scored with a strike rate of 100.28. It was his form in the domestic one-day tourney that earned him a comeback into the T20I side for Australia. When the selectors picked the ODI squad for Australia, Rayudu was overlooked and he later injured himself to miss out the Syed Mushtaq Ali. The selectors picked Manish Pandey ahead of the Baroda player. The selectors might be ruing not picking these players for this tour and had they been picked, the score-line might not be as one-sided as it looks at the moment. Also read: Top 5 Batsmen fastest to 25 ODI hundreds

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5 Indians who could have made a difference in the ODI series

4. Suresh Raina:

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