An Oddsworth Opinion
India's new middle order and the run chases it never got to bat in
India needed 406 to beat West Indies at Barsapara Cricket Stadium last month, the sort of chase a middle order is supposed to be built for. They got there in 43.3 overs for the loss of two wickets, and Naman Dhir never picked up a bat.
That sits awkwardly with the view doing the rounds that India's middle order is being handed from Suresh Raina to a new generation of game-changers in Tilak Varma and Dhir. Tilak did not play in that series, and Dhir did not bat in either of India's winning chases in it.
- LNew ZealandLost by 41 runs v New Zealand, 2026-01-18
- WAfghanistanWon by 7 wickets v Afghanistan, 2026-06-13
- WAfghanistanWon by 170 runs v Afghanistan, 2026-06-17
- WAfghanistanWon by 9 wickets v Afghanistan, 2026-06-20
- WEnglandWon by 6 wickets v England, 2026-07-14
- LEnglandLost by 4 wickets v England, 2026-07-16
- LEnglandLost by 27 runs v England, 2026-07-19
- WWest IndiesWon by 8 wickets v West Indies, 2026-09-27
- WWest IndiesWon by 8 wickets v West Indies, 2026-09-30
- LWest IndiesLost by 5 wickets v West Indies, 2026-10-03
What have Tilak Varma and Naman Dhir done in ODIs?
Dhir's only ODI innings came in the third match, at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, where he made a brisk 30 from 21 balls as India set 351. West Indies chased it down, so his one knock came batting first, in a defeat.
Tilak Varma's one ODI fifty was 52 from 77 balls against South Africa in December 2023. Our domestic one-day batting ratings have him about 1.7 runs a match worse than an average player, which is hardly the mark of a finisher in waiting.
How far off Suresh Raina are they?
Raina is the yardstick the comparison invites, and he set it over 220 ODIs. He averaged 35.8 across that career, while Tilak's career batting average in men's ODIs stands at 22.7.
Raina also made 36 fifties. Put another way, Tilak has one ODI fifty to his name and Dhir has none yet.
Should anyone call them game-changers yet?
India top our men's ODI team ratings, with a 73% chance of beating an average side. A top order that knocks off 406 for the loss of two leaves the middle order with nothing at all to change.
That is a happy problem for the gaffer, but it means Tilak and Dhir have been called pressure players before the pressure arrived. Perhaps they will grow into it. Raina earned his name the long way.
Until one of them gets a hit in a chase that is still in the balance, calling Tilak and Dhir Raina's heirs is a forecast passed off as a record.