Former England captain Michael Vaughan feels team India lack power in middle-order

The Australian cricket team annihilated team India in the first ODI of the three match series in Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on 14th January. Aaron Finch led Australia shocked the world by a resounding victory over the host by 10 wickets. This was Australia’s biggest ever win over India, by margin of wickets.

The men in blue will be looking to get back on its feet from the thrashing and remain in the series by winning the second ODI in Rajkot on Friday. However, former England skipper Michael Vaughan is of the opinion that there is a soft spot in the Indian team which needs to be dealt with if they are to win the ICC World Cup 2023 at home.

The former England international tweeted before the second ODI and stated that he was interested in seeing how India would reciprocate after the devastating defeat. Vaughan said the India had ‘under achieved’ in the last two World Cups, "They lack power for me in the engine room,the middle order,they have 3 yrs to make sure they can keep up the tradition of the hosts winning !"

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During the first ODI, Indian skipper Virat Kohli had decided to drop down the batting order so that both Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul could have a room in the playig XI. While Rohit Sharma is incontestable for one of the opening slot, the other is a stright up fight between Rahul and Dhawan.

The men in blue decided to open the innings with Dhawan with KL Rahul coming at one down and Virat dropping at four.

Both Rahul and Dhawan looked in fine form as they put up 121 runs for the second wicket. However, a batting breakdown saw the host being bundled out for 255 in 49.1 overs.