Historic ODI Loss Raises Big Questions Over Indias Bowling Attack

The Indian bowling line-up is now facing scrutiny, following their recent loss against New Zealand. The series now stands at a 1-1 level, with the third match being a series decider. However, India's bowling line-up has cost them three games, where the team faced historic losses against different opponents.

The second ODI between India and New Zealand has raised a number of questions. India was able to do well with the bat, as they managed to score 284 runs in their innings. Even though the top batters failed to perform well, KL Rahul and Shubman Gill played some fine knocks to put India at a good stage.

But every run was looking to be less for the team, as it all ended up in a losing cause. With the troubles being faced by the Indian bowling line-up, New Zealand was able to chase the target with two overs remaining. This was also the highest target chased by New Zealand against India in India. However, this is not the only highest chase recorded against India in the last few months.

Let's take a look at the faced by India in the last three months, which puts the bowling line-up under scrutiny.

1. India vs Australia: 2nd ODI

After losing the first ODI, India had high hopes for the second one. And this match was being played at Adelaide, where India have come out to be strong if they posted 250+ totals in their first innings. In this game, India had a challenging start with the bat, with Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli departing for low scores.

Pic Source: ESPNcricinfo

Still, Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer gave their best with the bat to put India at a competitive stage. Rohit scored 73, while Shreyas scored 61, as the Indian team finished their innings at 264 for the loss of 9 wickets. The target seemed easy to be defended by the Indian team, but if Australia chased down the same, it would have been a historic win for them.

Pic Source: ESPNcricinfo

But the Indian bowling line-up had some other plans. Australia was put down at 54/2 in the initial overs, but Matthew Short took the charge. Short, Connolly, and Renshaw played some aggressive knocks which took Australia close to the win. Eventually, the team finished off the game, winning by 2 wickets. For India, Harshit Rana had conceded 59 runs in 8 overs, putting his economy above 7 even in the low target.

2. India vs South Africa: 2nd ODI

It was again the second ODI, which leaked the troubles of the Indian bowling line-up. The first half of the match was too good for the fans to watch. Virat Kohli and Ruturaj Gaikwad smashed centuries for the Indian team, which allowed them to post 358 runs on the board. The target was too massive for the Proteas to chase.

Pic Source: ESPNcricinfo

But South Africa did the unbelievable, as they chased down the highest target by them against India in India. Aiden Markram scored a century, while Matthew Breetzke and Dewald Brevis smashed half-centuries to take them close to the win. Eventually, the match was finished by Corbin Bosch, who scored 29 runs off just 15 balls in the death overs.

Pic Source: ESPNcricinfo

South Africa ended up chasing the massive target of 359, giving another historic loss to India. Prasidh Krishna conceded runs at an economy of 10.20, while Harshit Rana and Kuldeep Yadav also maintained an economy above 7 in this chase. Even though the match went till the final over, it was a massive blow to India's bowling line-up.

3. India vs New Zealand: 2nd ODI

Once again, the team has changed but the ODI number remains the same. India started off the series against New Zealand with a win, but suffered a historic loss while defending in the second game. With the bat, India did not have a good start. But Shubman Gill and KL Rahul's masterclass powered India to score 284 runs for the loss of 7 wickets.

Pic Source: ESPNcricinfo

With the ball, Harshit Rana and Mohammed Siraj remained economical. They were successful in keeping the openers tight, bowling deliveries which confused them to a great extent. In the first powerplay, India had the upper hand as New Zealand scored just 34 runs for the loss of a wicket. But the middle overs caused some challenges.

Pic Source: ESPNcricinfo

Will Young and Daryl Mitchell put up an impressive stand, as they dominated the Indian bowlers. Kuldeep Yadav didn't turn out to be economical, as he conceded 82 runs in 10 overs. Following this, the death overs also saw Indian pacers being punished, which helped New Zealand to win the game by 7 wickets.