IND vs AUS | India's lower order not an issue, claims Vikram Rathour

India's middle-order problems were exposed in the World Cup semifinal, especially at the number four position. With Shreyas Iyer currently in that place getting consistent chances, that debate seems to have settled. However, it is India's lower middle-order that has gone under the radar and the absence of Hardik Pandya has seen India's ability to finish the innings tested. However, India's batting coach Vikram Rathour believed that there were enough options in place of Pandya and he gave the example of India scoring 387 against West Indies in the second ODI.

"It's not a weakness, I think. Just a few days back we scored about 383 (387)," said Rathour, reported ESPNCricinfo

"We've been scoring runs, our batters have done well, Shreyas is batting really well, Pant has played a couple of useful innings, so I don't see an issue there. top three are batting well and scoring heavily, that's again a good problem to have. But I don't see any issue with our lower order now, we have enough options," he further added.

India's lower order problems were clearly evident the last time Australia toured India for an ODI series. India were 2-0 up in the series but in the remaining three ODIs despite Kohli scoring hundreds in two of the three matches, India lost all three and lost the series due to a poor show from the lower middle-order.

In the first ODI versus West Indies at Chennai, India took a gamble by giving Shivam Dube a similar role as that of Hardik Pandya and tried to squeeze out overs off the fifth bowler from him and Kedar Jadhav. However that plan backfired as Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer took liking to the Indian bowling and won the game by eight wickets.

With Australia's pace attack boasting the likes of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, Indian lower-order will face an even sterner test.