Rohit Sharma scored back-to-back hundreds and Virat Kohli slammed his 24th ton in the ongoing bilateral ODI series against Australia Down Under. Shikhar Dhawan used 91 balls to score 68 runs in the third ODI. And in spite of these batting milestones, India lost all the three matches it has played so far, along with the series.
Glenn Maxwell, the Australia all-rounder who was adjudged the man of the match for his outstanding innings in the third ODI at the MCG, said about the Indian batsmen at the post-match press conference: "I think they are probably making sure they get to a milestone."
India interim team director Ravi Shastri has denied the claim that Indian batsmen are selfish and they just want to reach their respective milestones.
"If they were focusing on milestones, Virat Kohli wouldn't have been the fastest to 7,000 runs; he would have taken another 100 games. If that was the case, Rohit Sharma would not have two double hundreds, and a score of 264," Shastri told reporters ahead of the 4th ODI.
It is clear that the likes of Rohit and Kohli, who are capable of scoring at a brisk pace, were rather slow in the innings they played in this series so far. If Shastri is talking about Rohit's double centuries, one should remind him they were scored at a frenetic pace, with the strike rate of almost 200.
Dhawan struggled to time the ball properly throughout his stay in the middle in the third ODI, after his back-to-back failures in the first two matches. Was he playing for his spot in the team or he was just being watchful? Dhoni had once said one has to be patient with someone like Dhawan as he is an impact player. But sorry to disappoint the captain, but Dhawan has been unable to make any kind of impact in this series.
India have managed to score 309, 308 and 295 in the three ODIs they have played. One would feel the batsmen have done their part. On the other hand, questions are being raised as all the above-mentioned batsmen can score at a good rate when it comes to limited-overs cricket.
