3 major reasons behind Australia's poor performance in recent ODIs

Australia lost an ODI series against Pakistan recently.

Australia have struggled with their performance in the 50-over format in recent times. The Men in Yellow recently played an ODI series against Pakistan and are currently taking on Bangladesh. Stand-in captain Josh Inglis has been leading Australia at the moment in ODIs.

Against Pakistan, the Kangaroos suffered a 2-1 defeat. The hosts won the opening game by four wickets, but Australia made a comeback by winning the second game by 41 runs. In the series-decider, the Shaheen Afridi-led side won by five wickets.

Josh Inglis & Co. also made a horrible start against Bangladesh, losing the opening game by 86 runs. Bangladesh piled 284/8 in the first innings and restricted the Aussies to 191/9 in the second innings till the 43rd over, when rain hampered the match.

Bangladesh won the match via the DLS method and entered the record books by bagging their second-ever victory against Australia in ODIs. Amid Australia’s poor form in these two series, let’s discuss three reasons behind their dismal performance.

Crucial reasons behind Australia’s dismal show in recent ODI games

3. Absence of key players

Since several key Australian players had been continuously busy with the IPL 2026 and the T20 World Cup 2026 over the past few months, they were rested for the ODI series against Pakistan and Bangladesh.

A few were ruled out due to injuries. For instance, batters Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh are absent from Australia’s squad against Bangladesh and also missed the series against Pakistan. While Head is on personal leave, Marsh is recovering from an injury.

In the bowling department, crucial members like Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood were not part of the previous four games as part of their workload management. Therefore, Australia’s bowling unit lacked depth, and this can be considered a key reason for their defeat.

2. Short of regular captains

Australia were short of both captain and vice-captain in the ODI series against Pakistan. Regular skipper Pat Cummins was not part of the ODIs against Pakistan as Cricket Australia had rested him. He is also absent from the Bangladesh series. Cummins was busy in IPL 2026 till May.

Marsh was ruled out of the ODI series against Pakistan due to an ankle injury he sustained in IPL 2026. He is also missing the Bangladesh ODIs and is expected to play in the T20I series.

Josh Inglis was appointed as the captain for the ODI series against Pakistan and is also leading the side against Bangladesh. Since Australia were short of both Cummins and Marsh in recent games, they lack strong leadership.

Inglis lacks experience in captaincy, and he could not lead the side effectively. This is another reason for Australia’s dismal show in recent games.

1. Weakness against spinners

The Kangaroos’ vulnerability against spin bowling was clearly evident in the ODI series against Pakistan. They completely struggled against Pakistan spinners, who dismantled their batting unit. Spinners picked most of the wickets for Pakistan in their two victories.

For instance, spinner Arafat Minhas clinched a five-wicket haul in the 1st ODI against Australia to lead his team to victory and win the Player of the Match award.

Even in the third ODI, spinners Abrar Ahmed and Shadab Khan took two wickets each to play a key role in the victory. Australia’s struggle against spinners was another key reason for their series defeat against Pakistan.

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