India's inability to dismiss the lower order is becoming a glaring problem

image-lbdn2c9yRohit Sharma and Shardul Thakur (Source: Twitter)

India is currently playing in Bangladesh in a three-match ODI series. Two matches of the tournament are done and the India bowling lineup is looking particularly impotent against the lower order of the hosts. 

In the first match, India lost even after picking up 9 wickets of the opposition with 50 runs still to be defended. But Mehidy Hasan Miraz played an unreal inning and took Bangladesh across the line with one wicket still in hand and 4 overs remaining in the match. 

A similar story followed in the second match, but this time while India bowled first. In this case, India picked up 6 wickets of Bangladesh for just 69 runs, but the Men in Green went to score 271 runs in 50 overs for the loss of 7 wickets. 

Is this a problem of this particular series or is it a burden India is carrying with them for quite some time? 

Let us take an analytical dive into India's recent performances and try and reach to the depth of the problem. 

First, we will look at the ODI matches where India has picked up more than 5 wickets in the last 10 ODIs.  The instance numbers to 8, i.e., out of the last 10 ODIs India has picked up 5 or more wickets of the team 8 times. 

The Numbers that matter

In these, the number of Indian bowling after picking up the 5th wicket looks like this. 

Runs Conceded: 732

Wickets Taken: 34

Runs Per Wicket: 21.52

So, in the last 10 matches, the opposition players batting after the 5th wicket has fallen have on average scored about 22 runs against Indian bowling. And this is the period when India played against teams like West Indies, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. No disrespect is meant to anyone, but these are teams that are considered to have a weaker lower or lower middle order. 

The bowlers of India are seemingly struggling to end it. A recognised batter has frequently carried the innings off from the Indian bowlers. 

With the 2023 World Cup up as the next big test for the team India needs to sort this problem out. One might think that Jasprit Bumrah's return to the team can solve this problem but the onus will be on the whole team to take the responsibility of finishing things off for the team with the ball. 

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