The Indian test cricket team has been going through a period of transition since the departure of the two stalwarts, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. The series in England was predicted to have the worst outcome possible with Shubman Gill leading the side and plenty of new faces. Despite all the low expectations, India managed to scavenge a 2-2 draw in England and that was a huge achievement for the side. Heaps of praise were showered on Shubman Gill for his captaincy and the Indian team was considered to be bold enough to undertake any challenge.
However, a massive area of weakness was exposed in South Africa’s whitewash over India in home conditions. The kind of dominance that India had under the captaincy of Virat Kohli was not to be seen under the other captains of the Indian side. Shubman Gill faced a similar difficulty and he will be looking to make amends for the humiliating loss at home. Other than that India also has other questions that they haven’t found an answer for.
Top 5 areas of improvement for India.
1)Finding a permanent No. 3 batter
The number 3 slot is arguably one of the most important slots in test cricket and one that has been occupied by players of the highest technical ability. It was previously held by Cheteshwar Pujara and now it seems to be up for grabs. Sai Sudharhsan and Washington Sundar has been two players that have been tried out for the spot but none of them seem to really own it. With the likes of Devdutt Padikkal in sensational form, India would be looking to try another player and find an answer to this growing problem.
2)Restoring dominance in home conditions
India’s dominance in home conditions is another factor that would affect their overall confidence. The spin bowling unit of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel used to rule the Indian subcontinent but in the last couple of matches, India has looked wary. Kuldeep Yadav has been trying to level up his game and India’s spin bowling unit will need some sharpening to succeed at home.
3)Building a stronger pace bowling unit
One of the most important factors for any test side is their pace bowling attack and India has clearly lacked this aspect in their side. The pressure put on Jasprit Bumrah to find breakthroughs in almost every game is a bit too much and that could affect his workload. To go back to one bowler all the time for results, puts Jasprit Bumrah under too much pressure to perform. India will have to develop some depth in their bowling attack to manage the workload of their prime bowlers.
4)Solving the pace-bowling all-rounder issue
A clarity is yet to be shown in the area of a pace-bowling all-rounder. The role that Hardik Pandya used to carry brilliantly well in his time seems like it is left without any successor. Nitish Kumar Reddy has been a fine young talent in the side with his fabulous contributions in Australia but consistency has been lacking. He will have to bring in some crucial wickets to break partnerships and should be able to consistently score runs for his side. Nitish Kumar Reddy still seems to be the most viable option but his form is still nowhere to be found.
5)Adaptability to new leadership
The new leadership for the side will be definitely challenging for Shubman Gill and his teammates could take time to adapt to it. The era of transition does have a long standing impact not only on the positions and contributions on the scoreboard but in the area of experience as well. He will have to take insights from the veterans of the side such as KL Rahul and India will be looking to set the foundation for the Test side for maybe the next 5 years or so.
