5 Selection blunders by Indian Team during England series

India-England Test series has been a saga of missed opportunities for the Indian team. Apart from much talked about batting failure, Indian team management also made some tactical errors during the series.

Not playing enough tour games has been one of those errors. According to some experts, getting acclimatized to the conditions is very important, for touring countries like England and practice matches play an important role in doing so.

Selection of the playing eleven has also been a bone of contention throughout the series. Some of the choices made by Indian team management really defied logic and played an important in losing the series which could have been won with a more measured approach towards team selection. Let's take a look at some of the selection blunders:

#1 Dropping Pujara for the first Test

Pujara playing a pull shot

Dropping Pujara for the first was a strange decision. Indian management took Pujara's county form into account and dropped him for the first Test. Also, there was this notion that Pujara's overseas form has left a lot to be desired. Both these arguments have some merit, but, what were the alternatives that Indian team management had in place of Pujara- Dhawan and Rahul, both of whom have struggled outside India. Pujara's record is slightly better than these two batsmen even if we talk about alien conditions plus his classical style Test batting provides stability to the team.

Dropping Pujara would have made more sense in case of suitable replacements and non-availability of those proved costly to the team India as Dhawan and Rahul both failed.

#2 Playing Kuldeep Yadav at Lord's under overcast conditions

Kuldeep Yadav

To give benefit of doubt to team management, the pitch at Lord's was looking dry at first glance, which prompted them to include an additional spinner in the XI. But, it started raining just before the start of the match and the first day's play was completely washed out, without the toss taking place. During the second day, it became clear that conditions will remain overcast for the next few days which will aid swing bowling.

Team management should have dropped the idea to include Kuldeep Yadav in the squad keeping in mind the conditions that were prevailing before the start of the match but they did otherwise. Kudeep ended up bowling just nine overs in the match without any wicket to his name, moreover, his selection implied that India was caught short in the seam bowling department that too under conditions which were tailormade for fast bowlers.

#3 Playing an injured Ashwin in the 4th Test

Ravichandran Ashwin

Without any doubt, Ravichandran Ashwin is the first choice Indian spinner under any conditions and he proved that during the first Test at Edgbaston, where he picked up seven wickets.

But, it became evident during the second English innings of the third Test that Ashwin is injured. His discomfort was visible while bowling.

Indian team management made a mistake of going into the fourth Test with an injured bowler which eventually proved costly. The stage was set for Ashwin during the second innings, there was a lot of rough outside the right-handers off stump for him to exploit, but, an injured Ashwin failed to deliver which resulted in India losing the Test and the series.

#4 Persisting with Dhawan in spite of failures

Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan has failed repeatedly in alien conditions. He failed in South Africa and he failed in England too.

In the case of Dhawan, it's not as much about his failures as it is about his technique and temperament. It has become clear till now that Dhawan doesn't have the technique and temperament to succeed in overseas conditions.

Team management's persistence with Dhawan match after match robbed India of an opportunity to get a decent start at the top of the innings.

#5 Not playing a specialist number 6 batsman

Hanuma Vihari during the fifth Test

It is always advisable to work on your weak areas rather than putting in efforts on the aspects which are already strong. Indian team management did exactly the opposite.

It became clear after the first two Tests that Batting is struggling to adjust to English conditions. When a batting line-up is struggling it calls for the inclusion of an extra resource for batting. If an extra batsman comes in and contributes about 50 or 60 runs then it takes the team total to a respectable position. Also, the extra batsman provides the necessary cushion to prevent a collapse.

Indian team management included an extra batsman in the fifth Test, but, by that time it was too late as the series was already gone.