he number one One-Day international ranked team India also has its bad days out in the field. The Men in Blue, also the hosts for the fast-approaching ODI cricket world cup are eyeing a perfect squad to finally get the glory back home. While the pace attack is trying hard to find the right combinations, the batting order is also halfway to getting the final go-ahead.
The Indian dominance in ODIs started later in the 1980s. Even with this long history, the team has sometimes failed to live up to the Indian standard expectations. In the course of Indian cricket history of ODIs, India has been bowled out eight times under the score of 100.
While playing at home, any country carries the advantage of the home crowd, familiar conditions, and expected pitch with them. But this time against Australia, it was not the pitch but the pillar of Australian bowling, Mitchell Starc was something India could not get over.
Here are the five lowest totals by India at home in ODIs:
#5 India vs West Indies 1987, Guwahati (135)
Dated December 23 at Guwahati. With 52 runs, West Indies prevailed. The game was cut down to 45 overs per side due to the early onset of the night in the area. As the Indians made no less than three changes, West Indies replaced the absent Greenidge with Simmons. Arun Lal, Pandit, and Chetan Sharma were replaced by Amarnath, Azharuddin, and Prabhakar.
A slow pitch that was designed for India limited West Indies’ strokeplay, but India itself struggled to bat on it and fell apart when they tried to pick up the pace after Amarnath and Vengsarkar’s 58-run stand.
Kapil Dev valiantly batted for 22 runs off of 29 balls before losing his partners. Simmons, Richards (52 balls), and Logie for West Indies overcame the pitch’s restrictions to keep the score moving without using flashy strokes. The legend Viv Richards was named as man of the match for this one.
#4 India vs Australia 2023, Vishakhapatnam (117)
Marsh and Head’s easy run chase against India at Vishakhapatnam
Before openers Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head smashed quick fifties to finish off a knockout performance against India and draw the series at 1-1, Mitchell Starc demonstrated the art of new-ball swing bowling. India was bowled out for 117 in just 26 overs in Visakhapatnam, an unprecedented defeat in terms of the number of balls still in play.
Starc, with his unparalleled swing and pace, got the best out of the top and the middle order of the Indian batting. His 5 for 53 was also his ninth five-for in ODIs. While Suryakumar Yadav was all set to prove his worth this time, he again fell on his first ball.
Axar Patel’s unbeaten 29 was the reason India reached triple digits. Kuldeep Yadav, first showed caution as India passed the 100-point mark. Axar realized the battle was over as Abbott quickly defeated Kuldeep and Mohammad Shami.
Marsh and Head prevented India from mounting any sort of resistance. Although while Head’s 30-ball 51 was impressive when seen in isolation, Marsh’s 66 off 36 balls was nearly incomparably better.
#3 India vs Srilanka 2017, Dharamshala (112)
Srilankan bowling destruction against Indian batting
The best possibilities for teams with lower skill levels to win are when the bowlers have the advantage, whether through spin or seam. Sri Lanka only managed to win four of the 26 ODIs it played in 2017, the majority of which were on flat grounds. Nevertheless, in Dharamsala, Sri Lanka’s seamers, led by Suranga Lakmal, took advantage of swinging and seaming conditions to destroy a hesitant Indian batting order for 112, resulting in a seven-wicket rout and ending their 12-game losing run in ODIs.
It didn’t appear that the innings would last 38.2 overs when Lakmal completed with figures of 10-4-13-4 to declare India at 29 for 7. But, MS Dhoni managed to save India from the shame of scoring the lowest ODI total with a calculating 65. Although India made a strong defensive opening, Sri Lanka chased down the goal with 29.2 overs remaining, leaving India with a total that was clearly below standard.
With a barrage of well-timed strokes on either side of the wicket, Tharanga, though, dispelled their optimism. India had to set offensive fields, which resulted in significant outfield voids. Before moving to the first slip, Tharanga blasted a number of cover drives on his way to scoring 49. Then, to help Sri Lanka win, Angelo Mathews and Niroshan Dickwella contributed an unbroken 49, forcing India to mount a comeback for the second straight three-match series after falling behind 1-0.
#2 India vs West Indies 1993, Ahmedabad (100)
16 November, in Ahmedabad. India’s target was revised to 170 from 38 overs, and West Indies won by a margin of 69 runs. West Indies won the toss and chose to bat first. The Gujarat Stadium was filled with 50,000 spectators, some of whom were impatient as India collapsed to 55 for 6 in response to West Indies’ 202.
They pushed the fielders into the middle of the pitch by hurling stones, fireworks, and empty plastic bottles. The game restarted after 22 minutes, but two balls later it was stopped again because the West Indians felt unsafe chasing the ball to the boundary.
All total, more than 40 minutes and 12 overs were lost, yet India’s final score of 100 was far behind even their lowered target. With almost ten overs remaining, West Indies advanced to the semifinals thanks to Hooper’s spin, which completed what Winston Benjamin’s pace had started. West Indies’ bowling savior emerged as Winston Benjamin, who was named the game’s player of the match.
#1 India vs Srilanka 1986, Kanpur (78)
24th of December at Kanpur. With 117 runs, Sri Lanka triumphed. The pitch that had performed so admirably during the Test match was watered and used once more for the one-day international.
But it performed so unreliably that only a 40-run stand between the ninth and ninth wickets in the final four overs gave Sri Lanka a respectable total after they were put in.
India scored 78 runs, which is just 16 runs higher than their previous record low for a one-day total at home, before being bowled against Ranatunga’s accurate slow-medium pace. After shattering the Indian batting order, Arjuna Ranatunga went on to win the man of the match.