What Is The Reason For Australia's Stunning Decline In ODI Cricket?

There doesn’t appear to be many specialists in the ODI team; most of them play like part-timers. T20 cricket has contributed towards that...

- Bhavesh Bhimani

They are the reigning World ODI champions. And yet in their last 10 ODIs, they have just won one. In 2017, they played 13 ODIs and won just 5. They recently received a brutal 5-0 drubbing at the hands of England and it further exposed the frailties of this rapidly falling Australian side. Australia has now slipped to a 34-year low in the ICC ODI rankings, dropping to sixth place. For a team that won the World Cup in emphatic fashion just three years ago, this is a stunning decline.

Tim Paine and Justin Langer have a massive task on their hands and quite a few issues to sort as the World Cup in England is just a year away and they would need to pull up their socks real quick if they want to retain their trophy.

One might say that the suspension of Steve Smith and David Warner due to the ball tampering scandal has led to this sharp decline in Australia’s fortunes recently. Then there have been injuries to key players like Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins. Yes, that must have played a part. After all, they are all key players. But the truth is that cracks had begun to appear in the team well before that.