India Should Not Worry About their Middle Order Woes - Kumar Sangakkara

Former Sri Lankan legendary batsman Kumar Sangakkara believes India should not worry much about their middle order woes. India has struggled to get going in the middle order as they haven’t discovered a stable batsman at number four. However, the top order of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli have done the bulk of the scoring.

Meanwhile, there is no denying the fact that the middle order hasn’t lived up to the expectations. Subsequently, they haven’t delivered the goods. In fact, the team management has also tinkered with the playing combination on a regular basis. Therefore, Kumar Sangakkara believes India should stick with one batsman and give him more chances to prove his mettle.

India should look to fill in the missing gaps.

Kumar Sangakkara said India has a settled squad. “I think they’ve got a very settled squad. They’ve got the senior pro group sorted, MS Dhoni has been outstanding, Virat Kohli has been brilliant,” Sangakkara told ESPNcricinfo. “Then you have Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma at the top. I just think they need to find that one person for the No. 4 position.”

The former Sri Lanka gloveman said Hardik Pandya is going to play a crucial role for the Indian side. Furthermore, India has a potent bowling line-up.

“Hardik Pandya will be very crucial for them in that allrounder’s role. Plus, they have a brilliant bowling attack. So they will be very confident heading into the World Cup,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kumar Sangakkara believes it doesn’t make sense to tinker a lot with the playing combination. In fact, altering the playing combination can have an effect on the player’s confidence.

“It’s about settling down and not making too many changes because sometimes it affects players, affects their confidence. So settle on a side, and they have enough options for that because come the World Cup, they’ll have to pick one of them, so they need to buckle down and pick the best of the lot.”

India has 18 ODIs to go before they play their first match in the World Cup. Hence, India will like to seek their best playing combination before the coveted tournament.