5 areas where Team India still need to improve

Often one of India’s two openers fired in the home season

During the stretch of 13 home Tests, Team India had several of their players rise to the occasion and deliver and as a result they ended up winning 10 of those games, drawing two of them and losing the other one.

However, during the rope-like season, there were a few issues which did not get too much notice thanks to the eventual result of the games.

We look at 5 areas where the team can still improve:

5.Inconsistent opening stands

An area where going forward India have to work on. Often, when Murali Vijay fired, the partner at the other end did not and as was the case during the Australian series, KL Rahul was in sparkling form but Vijay did not complement him with a similar performance.

A look at India's best overseas wins in the current century would tell you that whenever the opening partnership has given the side a good start, it has augured well for them, enabling them to post a big total.

It isn't always fair on a player like Pujara to walk in at 20 for 1 and build the innings frequently, even though he has shown that he has the capabilities to do that.

4.Solving the DRS puzzle

India will need to work on this aspect and quickly at that

When it was decided that the Decision Review System would be used for the England series and onwards after that, there were contrasting opinions from various quarters with some still sceptical while others welcoming the idea.

During the course of the next 5 months, India have encountered some tough times with the technology as their lack of exposure in the past has come to bite them back.

On several occasions, Kohli and his men went for the review when there was clear doubt over whether the decision would be overturned and on most times, the decision went against India's favour.

The troubling aspect was that on several of those occasions, the reviews were wasted well before the 80 over mark, when a new pair are reset again.

For India to improve on this front, Anil Kumble's role becomes vital and he will need to guide Kohli and others to ensure they develop a certain level of consistency when it comes to getting decisions right.

3.Frailities against spin bowling

Ajinkya Rahane often succumbed to spin this home season

There was a time when Indian cricketers were renowned for two aspects:

1. Their ability to put anything on their pads away to the fence.

2.Their ability to play spin better than many other countries.

While the current lot can still boast of having the first one, it is in the second aspect where a lot of work remains to be done.

While the New Zealand and the England spinners did not pose as big a threat, they faced a serious examination against Australia, where the likes of Nathan Lyon and Stephen O'Keefe tested their technique to the fullest.

The result was a batting capitulation both in Pune and Bengaluru and also struggles, especially against Lyon in Dharamshala.

The common consensus is that Indians may not face quality spin overseas or the pitches may not assist the slower bowlers as much as they do at home, but that is no reason to not play them as well as they play the quicker players.

2.Middle-order woes

Karun Nair did little of note apart from the triple hundred in this home season

If you have a look at the highest run-getters for India in this home season, you will see that it is the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara and KL Rahul who feature in the top 3.

For a large part of the home season, the middle-order struggled a great deal particularly Ajinkya Rahaneho had a season to forget with the bat, making just the solitary hundred against New Zealand.

Karun Nair was the talk of the town after he made the triple hundred against England in Chennai, but barring that effort, there was nothing else of note from the right-hander, as he managed to conjure a mere 71 runs in the remaining matches.

If India is to be an all-round team, then it will require it's middle order to produce consistent performances with the bat and not always depend on the top 3 to deliver the goods as was the case with a large part of this home season.

1.Slip catching

The most worrisome area

VVS Laxman was ever present in almost each of the Tests and even though he was not there, Rahul Dravid would have surely been eagerly keeping a track of India's performance.

While both would have been delighted with the batting on display, what they would be worried about is the slip fielding on display during the series, especially in the Dharamshala Test.

The issue with India's slip fielding is not something that has come up now.

Cast your mind back to the overseas trips from later 2013 to early 2015 and you will remember several instances when the slip fielders let the bowlers down.

Fielding at slips is a difficult art as one does not when the ball would arrive, but it is something the present lot need to work on and improve if they are to win overseas.

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Edited by Staff Editor