After the Champions Trophy 2025, the performance of Team India's middle order has been quite different at home and abroad. Batsmen have scored runs consistently on home ground. At the same time, the team's performance on foreign grounds has been weak. This may impact India's batting depth in ODIs.
According to the statistics, India's middle order at home has scored 1,146 runs in 12 matches at an average of 47.75. During this period the strike rate was 110.72. At the same time, only 764 runs were scored in 11 matches abroad at an average of 24.64. Here the strike rate also decreased to 79.58.
Strong performance by middle order on home ground
In the 12 matches played in India, batsmen from numbers 4 to 7 have scored 4 centuries and 4 half-centuries. The average of 47.75 and strike rate of 110.72 shows that the middle order has scored fast runs and also played big innings.
Also read: India's weakness exposed before CWC 2027, how is the record of top-5 in SA?
Whereas abroad the picture has completely changed. The average in 11 matches was 24.64 and the strike rate has fallen to 79.58. During this period, 4 half-centuries were scored, but no century was scored. That is, on foreign pitches the middle order was neither able to score runs consistently nor score at a fast pace.
There may be trouble in CWC 2027
The 2027 ODI World Cup is to be played in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. In such a situation, this performance of the middle order on foreign grounds can increase concern. Batsmen may face difficulty in the beginning on the fast and bouncy pitches of South Africa. If the top order is out early, the pressure on batsmen from numbers 4 to 7 will increase. India will have to work on this weakness before the World Cup.
In this time frame, India has tried many players in the middle order. These include the names of Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dubey, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Rituraj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan and Naman Dhir.