England vs India 2018: 3 things team India needs to address before the 3rd Test

In the England-India Test series, the Indian team is already 2-0 down in a contest of five matches. Apart from very few positives, a lot of things went against them in these two games. But here are three major issues in front of them prior to the third test in Nottingham that need to be addressed for the visitors to register their first win of the series.

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#1 New ball woes for batsmen

The discussions about the importance of scoring runs against the new ball in the seaming conditions in overseas countries is not a new thing. It's not something that has been triggered in this series only but was seen earlier also during India's tour of South Africa.

The opening batsmen are failing continuously and they seem to be absolutely clueless against the new moving ball. One of India's most reliable opener overseas Murali Vijay has only managed to score 219 runs in the last 10 innings (six in SA and four here in England). Not only him but the other two tested openers, Rahul and Dhawan have also failed to go past the 50-run mark during this time interval.

As a result of that, the batsmen at number three, four and five have to face the new ball very early than they are supposed to. And apart from Virat Kohli, no other batsman has been able to adjust against these conditions so far.

#2 Unsustained bowling

Ishant Sharma in action during the second test match against England

One of the biggest positives for the Indian team in the recent times is their growth in the fast bowling department but they have not been able to match the English bowlers. So, as a result, the Indians have failed to continuously bowl disciplined spells.

All English bowlers, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and Sam Curran are giving their team all six balls in one area with similar line and length which never fails to trouble the opposition's batsmen. And it's not the case with the Indian bowlers as they bowl a loosener after two or three good deliveries which allows the batsmen to settle in and score easy runs.

This was seen in the last game as well where Chris Woakes went on to score an unbeaten century with good support from Jonny Bairstow and Sam Curran. The Indian team is continuously facing difficulties in bowling out the opposition's middle and lower-middle order batsmen.

#3 Skipper Virat Kohli's recurring back problem

Virat Kohli after the second test match

Indian team's skipper and their number one batsman right now, Virat Kohli's back injury surfaced again while fielding in the last match. It is the same problem which repeatedly keeps plaguing him.

Due to this problem only, Virat was seen struggling in this year's Indian Premier League. He also had to miss the test match against Afghanistan and the county season for Surrey.

India's batting is over-dependent on Kohli as almost 40 percent of their runs in the current series have been scored by him. Though Virat looks assured of being fit before the Nottingham test, if that does not happen, the Indian team is going to face a lot of trouble.