India’s batting coach Sanjay Bangar isn’t much concerned about India’s middle-order and feels it will not be right to draw conclusions after just a failure. New Zealand defeated India by eight wickets in Hamilton on Thursday. The hosts got the visitors all-out on 92 runs.
Ahead of the fifth ODI, Bangar said, “It [Hamilton ODI] also gives us an opportunity for us to reflect. In case, we lose out on a couple of players due to fitness issues… the World Cup is going to be a long tournament… play nine games [in the group stage]. Players are going to get injuries, some will miss out. So it gave us a reflection on how the team will cope up if players are injured.”
Bangar added: “We were found wanting in that sort of situation in the last game. But these players are quality players. Even in the previous game, Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik stitched a partnership of 82 (77 not out) to finish the game. So we can’t draw any conclusions after one odd failure.”
India have already won the five-match ODI series by 3-1. MS Dhoni is likely to feature in India’s XI in the fifth game after being declared fit to play.