Which team has the best middle order amongst the current cricket teams? This question has to be primarily concerned with all the teams because the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup is just around the corner and what really means to have a performing, consistent, experienced and reliable middle order is the significant increase in possibility of winning the World Cup.
The significance of middle order in a team goes way beyond to just players who have best numbers at that spot. One can look back at ODI World Cup 2011 and see how Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina paved the way for India’s road to winning the coveted World Cup after 28 years.
What is the importance of middle order?
The problem with current search for a middle order is that it is based on stats and number. The team setup and playing philosophy is not talked about much, there is no purview of middle order becoming the transitional link between top order and lower order. The middle order has to play the role of manifesting the match winning situation as well as to take it to the deep in the innings where the winning possibility is more than 90 percent.
Having said that, numbers are important but every team has a playing a method or so to say a template and it is not a temporary one. Teams want to find a winning template and then they want to continue with that, and accordingly selectors and coaches bring and nurture players in the team. So, what is the point of drafting in a statistically strong middle order yet if it does not fit with the current template.
Thus, the middle order has the most important role in a team. They could be called the saviours because whenever the top order does a good job, the middle order has to build an innings upon that, and if the top order fails, the middle order has to take the charge and play a prolonged and cautious innings.
Which team has the best middle order amongst current cricket teams?
This is a tough question to answer because there are multiple that standards should be taken into account: their contribution to the winning cause, performance in challenging situations and batting record in last 15 overs. Current World Cup champions England have a strong middle order but in recent times, they have struggled to be consistent.
Australia is yet to find a substantial middle order, in last 10-12 months a number of players have been tested and most of them have seized the opportunity. In current scenario, it looks like that it will be Mitchell Marsh, Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell, all incredibly strengthuos power hitters but there is an equal risk involved of failure.
Team India is still struggling to find a balanced team, the number 4 position is still vacant and all sorts of assumptions are made about who will get the chance. Whether it will be trio of Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav or another trio, it’s not confirmed yet.
South Africa stands out with its three players
The current form of South African middle order is just what a team needs, there is talent, ability of power hitting, batters who can see off spin aggresively and most importantly, consistentcy which is most desired from a middle order. With the service of Aiden Markam, David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen, South Africa is currently the team which has the most effective middle order.
Everyone saw how easy batting looks when Heinrich Klaasen is in full flow, and in every second or third game, he produces a standout innings with the bat. His two innings touched the status of remarkable during home season; 80 of 62 balls against England at Bloemfontein and 119* off 61 balls against West Indies at Potchefstroom.
Although first one resulted in a loss but it was a spectacular innings, a breathing innings that kept South Africa alive in the game as long as he was playing. The latter one was sublime in one sense and exhibition of power hitting in another. The good thing is that Klaasen continued with that notion of batting in different leagues after those ODI innings.
He didn’t try to mix things up or change his mindset, once he felt that it is working, he kept on to that momentum.
David Miller is the most experienced guy in the current South African team then there is his power hitting ability. With such a brute force, he hits the ball, and the unique thing about Miller’s batting is that it is so effective while being so simple. 75* off 63 vs India, 35* off 34 vs India, 53 off 56 vs England, 58* off 37 vs England, 91 off 61 vs the Netherlands; all this took place in last 9 innings in ODIs.
The consistency is amazing and South Africa will heavily rely on David Miller in upcoming World Cup to win the team at least two matches on his own.
What about South Africa’s T20I captain Aiden Markam. There is no doubt that this guy has some serious talent and he has made us witness it on a number of occasions. Markam can play spin freely and without taking much of a risk, he can sent the ball flying a long way and that’s what a team wants in middle overs. If a batter can ruin the day of an spinner, the resources of the bowling drop down.
Markram is also a handy bowler so that is a plus for South African team. Besides their batting prowess, we all know how atheletic and spectacular fielders these guys are. Such a middle order can be called best amongst the lot and definitely reflects the strong possibility of leading a team to the ultimate win in a tournament.
