England vs India 2014: 5 things MS Dhoni needs to make sure before the first Test

With the humiliating whitewash against England 4 years ago still very much fresh in the hearts and minds of sincere Test cricket fans, MS Dhoni’s men have arrived in England hoping and confident in competing ball by ball against England. The home side is definitely not in the best of touches and India might consider this as a window through which they can plan their strategies. The same line was written when India toured Australia – a team in transition then, but still India went down every time. Time to be more cautious in planning, that should not force the visitors to be defensive. With the series being a 5 match affair, a side cannot be written off even if they fail to get things going straightaway, but getting the advantage will be crucial and Indian side should have to attack from all possible ways to earn wins. Dhoni insisted that he will stay aggressive and I hope that he won’t forget making that remark. There are certain things he should do the right way with his team that will be crucial for the Indian prospects.

#1 Field the best XI for the warm-up games

No excuses like fatigue, fever, stomach ailments, should be put forward for failing to field the first team against Leicestershire and Derbyshire – to get maximum feel of the conditions and use them for good.

We have seen before on numerous occasions how the reserve bowlers will be bowling their hearts out in a practice game scheduled between the middle of a tour in an attempt to impress the team management, but will only be needed to carry drinks.

Dhoni and Duncan Fletcher should zero in on the first team and ask them to bowl more than the people who can be used later on. Same goes to the batsmen and no altering the batting order to include your 3rd opener. This is where the things can go completely wrong, assume if Gautam Gambhir is asked to bat at No.3 for the warm-up games and does well. Eventually, you have to make him open for the 1st Test, and he would have never faced the new ball. Where will that lead the team to?

Even though you can argue that he is experienced enough to handle that, you cannot deny the risk factor that the whole team will be batting in variable positions.

#2 Choosing the right third seamer

It is more or less going to be Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma with the new ball for India. The important thing is to identify the third bowling option among the likes of Mohammed Shami, Varun Aaron, Ishwar Pandey, Pankaj Singh and Stuart Binny. With Binny emerging as a strong contender, with his 6-4 one of the best ODI spells in history, this is a tough choice to make.

But he cannot be trusted as a specialist bowler and definitely not as a first change bowler, so it boils down to the fact of who is the best among the rest.

Mohammed Shami is the favourite to grab the place but Joe Dawes, the bowling coach, should make sure that whether he is in the best frame of mind (err.. check Ishant’s first) to execute what is needed on the day.

#3 Ravindra Jadeja or Ravichandran Ashwin

Ashwin had been replaced in the team by Jadeja for the second test in South Africa and the move hasn’t proved to be effective but for the first occasion. India persisted with the left-arm spinner in New Zealand and found little success.

It has to be seen which of the two Super Kings will be trusted with the responsibility as the lonely spinner in seaming conditions.

I personally feel that Ashwin should be selected after he himself has expressed the desire to be aggressive as an attacking bowler rather than a containing one. He should be using a lot of variations in flight (read only flight) and use the carrom ball sparingly.

Stuart Binny might be handy as an all-rounder, but given Dhoni’s problems with over-rates, he will need a spinner to be on the safer zone.

#4 Be ready to risk it all

Several cricketing experts and former players – most notably Rahul Dravid, have mentioned time and again that as a captain, you need to risk losing the match to win it. MS Dhoni should not be settling for a draw and a five match series means you cannot keep on ‘draw’ing Tests.

Even when the opponents are scoring freely and you still have only a hundred run lead, he should trust his bowlers (which I agree is the hardest thing to do) to get one or two break-throughs that can turn the game on its head.

And please – no deep points for the first 25 overs of an innings.

#5 Stay confident and play cricket

Sledges and Virat Kohli. That should be separated effectively to get India across the finishing line. And the rest of the batting order should stay awake and look to be positive enough to aim for runs rather than to get into the shell, particularly in the second innings.

New Zealand’s second innings against West Indies in the second Test of their tour explains the risk of defensive play very clearly. They batted and batted for more than 152 overs at a run rate of 2.17 across five full sessions only to give Chris Gayle a fun outing at the crease.

Dhoni should make sure his batsmen understand this fact.

Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane must not lose focus while batting as it is their runs that is going to make all the difference to the total.