India lose series against Aussies at Kotla decider
Witnessing such an exemplary game of cricket last night was a treat for all. Aussies winning the series by 3-2 from 0-2 was disheartening for Indian fans. For the first time after 2012, India has been bowled out thrice in any series.
Chasing a challenging target of 272 at Kotla Ground, India was strangled in the middle order by the Aussie spinners. As a result, Men in Blue were defeated by a margin of 35 runs.
Indian skipper could not turn out his 20 run innings into a long shot and was caught out by Carey. At the other end, Sharma played a crucial knock of 56 giving some ray of light. His knock helped him entering the prestigious elite club at the third position. Yet, the man’s happiness was short-lived with the loss of the team.
Kotla crowd was left with disappointment with back to back fall of wickets and middle order failing to perform once again. With consecutive failures of the middle order, the question which is rising is who will be playing at middle orders at World Cup 2019. Former cricketers Sanjay Manjrekar and Irfan Pathan also tweeted on their Twitter accounts about the same expressing their worry.
Whoever gets picked in the end, India’s middle order will be its Achilles heel in the WC 2019.
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) March 13, 2019
Hopefully this loss won’t effect the confidence of the Indian team and by the time World Cup arrives team would have sorted middle order positions.Well done Australia for winning the series #IndvsAus
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) March 13, 2019
Diminished to 132 for 6 within 30 overs, all hopes were lost for the day. The 91 run partnership between Kedar Jadhav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar just helped in reducing the defeat margin. At one point it seemed the duo help India sail the boat but with consecutive dismissals of both the last hope for the fans went down.
The ‘Man of the Match’ and ‘Man of the Series’ was awarded to Usman Khawaja. Khawaja scored a century in 106 balls in fifth ODI. His knock helped Kangaroos achieve a defensive target leading to their victory.
We all are heartbroken with the loss of the Indian team. The major concern after this defeat is the selection of middle order line up for World Cup T20. With IPL 2019 also around the corner, we are expecting great performances by the players which will make this decision easier for BCCI.
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