India's Achilles heel in the recent ICC events has been the middle order. While in ICC ODI World Cup 2019, it cost India a final spot, in the 2023 edition, India's famed middle-order trio of Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, and Ravindra Jadeja failed to fire as unison, which enabled a home World Cup loss. All three will feature in the Champions Trophy as well. But whether will they be able to deliver goods collectively is the big question.
Shreyas Iyer is the enforcer in the middle order, and a lot will depend on the right-hand batter to put the pressure back on the opposition with his quick run-scoring. The 30-year-old is heading into the CT with good form as well as he scored two 50s against England at a strike rate of over 90. Iyer can switch gears seamlessly and is a very good player of spin and pace. It was Iyer's wicket in the final of the ODI World Cup 2023, which was the turning point in the game.
Giving Iyer company will be KL Rahul and either Axar Patel or Ravindra Jadeja. Head coach Gambhir and skipper Rohit Sharma have made things clear that Rahul will be doing the wicketkeeping duties and not Rishabh Pant. However, the former LSG captain is not in good form with bat, and also behind the stumps.
Axar Patel to bat at number 5 in the middle order?
Axar scored a 52 and a 41 in the two games batting at number five against England. The southpaw was promoted ahead of Rahul to disrupt the right-handed top-heavy batting of India. However, it remains to be seen if the management sends him higher up the order in tense run chases, and on a slow wicket.
Apart from Axar, India also has the option to use Jadeja and Hardik Pandya ahead of Rahul. The former has the knack of always rising to the occasion in ICC events, while Jadeja also can use long handle to good effect. However, Rahul needs to fire in the middle order to allow Pandya and Jadeja to bat freely as the finishers.
India's Middle-order final rating: 7/10
While India are not short of firepower in the middle-order department, the big question remains if the middle-order batters fire in unison if the top three fail. A lot will depend on the Iyer-Rahul combo and the rate of run-scoring in which they bat. Chasing big totals might seem a bit tricky for India's middle-order batters.
