WC Semis; Overseas Series Wins 'Down Under' Headline India's Stellar 2019 ODI Season

India ended 2019 as the second most successful team in ODIs, winning a staggering 70.4 percent of their matches (19 wins in 28 matches).

Team India capped off a spectacular year in one day international cricket after clinching a hard fought ODI series win against West Indies at home and extending their winning streak over the 'Maroon Brigade; to a record extending 10 series.

India ended 2019 as the second most successful team in ODIs, winning a staggering 70.4 percent of their matches (19 wins in 28 matches). The sub continent powerhouse won the most matches (19) among top ODI teams and ended the year second behind World Champions England in the ICC ODI team rankings. The highlight of India's successful ODI season was overseas series wins against Australia, New Zealand and the West Indies on their turf and making it to the semi-finals of the 2019 ICC World Cup held in the United Kingdom. India began their ODI campaign in emphatic fashion securing impressive series wins over New Zealand and Australia on their overseas trip 'Down Under'. They were given a timely wake up call by the Aussies losing 2-3 at home just before the 2019 ICC World Cup.

Going into the 2019 Cricket World Cup as pre-tournament favourites, India justified their 'title contenders' tag topping the round robin stages and securing a well deserved place in the semifinals.

India were in all conquering mode beating title contenders Australia and South Africa, arch rivals Pakistan, edging Afghanistan and trouncing relatively weaker oppositions in Sri Lanka, West Indies and Bangladesh. Their only loss in the group stages came at the hands of hosts and England. An upset loss to New Zealand in the last four stages dashed their hopes of winning a third World Cup title.

Post their WC assignment, India sailed off to the Carribean and clean swept the Windies to continue their good form away from home in white ball cricket They capped off a succesfull ODI season with a 2-1 win over the Maroon Brigade in their own backyard.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's superlative form with the bat headlined the batting efforts for the team as the duo ended the year as the highest run getter.

While Rohit was at his best while opening the innings, Kohli once again proved to be the ultimate chase master. While Shikhar Dhawan was pretty consistent at the top before injuring himself , KL Rahul proved to as an apt replacement scoring heavily in the later part of the season.

Seasoned campaigner MS Dhoni was rock solid in the lower middle order till he disappeared from the international scene owing to a self imposed hiatus after the World Cup, All-rounder Hardik Pandya was sidelined for a major part of the season due to a back injury. One won't be wrong in calling Kedhar Jadhav the unsung hero who chipped in consistently with both bat and ball The No.4 slot  in the batting was a persistent headache for the team management with many options  tried out by the think tank ahead of the World Cup. At the back end of the season, India eventually found Sheyar Iyer to be the solution to the long term problem. Wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant had a string of failures and inconsistencies  marred  the middle order with Dinesh Karthik and Vijay Shankar blowing hot and cold. Pandya and Dhoni's absence in the later part of the season dented the lower middle order The biggest plus for the Indian team was the emergence of a pace formidable pace battery which proved to be lethal both at home and while touring abroad. While Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar bagged a rich haul of wickets both with the new ball and at the deck, the emergence of a new pace bowling crop led by Deepak Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed and Navdeep Saini, showed the depth India had in their pace battery.

With Bumrah injured, the young seam brigade led the charge with conviction in the Windies. Mohammad Shami was the standout seamer, ending as leading wicket taker and bagging a game changing hat-trick against Afghanistan in the World Cup. Spin twins Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal were a constant thorn in the flesh of opponents choking them for runs and breaking partnerships in the middle. Meanwhile Ravindra Jadeja added strength to the spin department bringing in variation with his left arm spin.

So all in all, a great year for the 'Men in Blue' in ODI cricket with the exception of a shocking semifinal exit in the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

With seasoned campaigner like Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya likely to comeback post recuperating from injuries, Kohli-led brigade would look to assert their dominance once again in the limited overs arena and challenge World Champions England to become the Number One ODI side in 2020.