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:

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.