Australia vs India: 5 Observations from the ODI series

2. None of the current Indian batters can bowl

Secondly, the one-sided bowling. India’s attack looked like those old-time 3-2 bowling attacks led by three pacers and two spinners. This is by no means a recipe for wins on a consistent basis. This problem is not difficult even for a layman to detect. India simply need all-rounders to make their bowling look more flexible.

With Hardik Pandya not bowling for months till the second match, the bowling attack turned even more one-dimensional. But one also meets a bigger question here. Why, despite playing KL Rahul as keeper, India are failing to find a sixth bowling option? The reason is simple. There are far too many one-task players in the current national side.

In the past, we saw Sourav Ganguly make Rahul Dravid don the keeping gloves so that he could accommodate a seventh batsman into the side. There were four bowlers left to complete the line-up but Ganguly had the advantage of playing a number of batsmen who could bowl. Be it Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh or himself, the then skipper never had to restrict himself to only five options even if they went for runs. With Kohli, that is not the case.