Another day, Same problems: Why India lost the second ODI against Australia

India batted first and scored 308/8 on the back of yet another ton from Rohit Sharma only to run into the same set of problems. Twenty or thirty more runs to the target would have made it a really close match, and the Men in Blue could have ended upon the winning side with some luck.

India’s scoring rate in the middle overs and last ten overs were one of the problems of their defeat at WACA. The away side followed a similar scoring rate at Gabba only to lose wickets in a heap to end upon the wrong end of the scoreline. On the other hand, Australia started their innings slowly and utilized the middle overs to heap misery on the Indian spinners and strolled to a victory by going at a run a ball in the last ten overs. If we analyze the data, then we can find that apart from the phase of overs 1-10, the Aussies maintained a better run rate than the Indians in all other phases of the match.

The Indian bowlers' performance will be another reason for India’s defeat at the Gabba with none of the frontline bowlers producing a creditable performance. In fact the spinners – Ashwin and Jadeja – who India banked heavily on turned out once again conceding more than six per over to end India’s chances.

Dhoni will hope for a much better performance from his bowlers at the third ODI at Melbourne on January 17, Sunday. Rohit Sharma’s performance and the team’s ability to score three hundred runs consecutively will be India’s big positives as they head to Melbourne.