5 Weaknesses of England that India can exploit

Last time India played a Test series in England, they were up against a side still recovering from the assault of Mitchell Johnson in the 2013-14 Ashes series and coming off a shocking home series loss to Sri Lanka. India took advantage of the situation by winning the second Test and taking a lead in the 5-match rubber. But it went downhill after that and England crushed India in the last three Tests.

England’s run of form coming into the series this time also hasn’t been ideal. They were smashed in Australia, beaten in New Zealand and had to settle for a drawn series against Pakistan at home. But this team doesn’t look as troubled as the side in 2014. The team is more settled and the captain Joe Root is safe in his position. However, there are still some chinks in the armor of England that India can exploit. Let’s look at five of them.

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#1. England’s opening woes

The search for Alistair Cook's long term opening partner is still going on

One thing that has remained the same with England as the previous home series against India is their search for a long-term opening partner for Alastair Cook. In the 2014 series, it was Sam Robson who played all five Tests and got dropped afterwards. This time, England are going in with Keaton Jennings. They hope he would end their search for Andrew Strauss’s replacement that has been on since 2012.

However, the problem has aggravated with Alastair Cook also witnessing a decline in his production of runs. Apart from his double hundred at Melbourne against Australia, he hasn’t got a big score for a long time. Doubts are being raised about his future. To summarize, the opening pair is under pressure and Indian bowlers need to exploit it.

#2. The third seamer conundrum

Sam Curran didn't set the stage on fire in his Test debut

England have one of the best seam bowling pairs in the world with Broad and Anderson. However, due to injuries sustained by Chris Woakes and Mark Wood, they are looking at either Sam Curran or Jamie Porter to be the third seamer. Curran didn’t make much of an impact against Pakistan and Porter is yet to play Test cricket. Hence, Ben Stokes may well be the third most used bowler for England in the first Test.

This gives India an opportunity. If they can keep Anderson and Broad quiet, England may be left wondering where their wickets will come from and that’s when the batsmen can take advantage. Sam Curran doesn’t have much pace or speed and if the ball doesn’t swing around, he may not be a threat at all. Porter is an X-factor so not much can be said about him. The absence of an established third seamer may prove very troublesome for England.

#3. The spin quandary

It's hard to predict how England's 'spin twins' would perform

In 2014, Moeen Ali emerged, almost from nowhere, as a match-winning bowler for England in the 5-match series. But his career has followed a curious pattern. He seems to deliver the goods when he is least expected to and folds up when the spotlight is on. Due to his history with India and his good form in the one-day series, he is back but doubts remain about his consistency and mental fortitude. In fact, it was to take pressure off him that, last season, he was described as England’s best spinner but still the second spinner in the side. India could put the pressure back on him in this contest by playing him well at the start of the series.

On the other hand, Adil Rashid’s call-up has left everyone stunned. He had given up red-ball cricket for all intents and purposes but suddenly finds himself back in the team. What’s more, he didn’t make much of an impact against India in the 2016 away series on much more helpful wickets. The selectors have gambled based his good ODI form but that is not enough to guarantee success. Here is a great chink in England’s armor for India to exploit.

#4. Root’s lack of conversion

Joe Root seems to have caught the jinx of not converting 50s into 100s

Joe Root is regarded by most people as one of the best batsmen in world cricket right now but in the last year or so, he has been suffering due to the inability to convert fifties into hundreds. In India in 2016, he scored 1 hundred and 4 fifties and in the Ashes series, he failed to covert any of his four half-centuries into a ton. This problem seems to be getting to him and his reaction on being out in the 80s in the final Test at Sydney against Australia suggests he wants desperately to get rid of this hoodoo.

If India can also prevent him from getting a century, that pressure may return and, coupled with the burdens of captaincy, may turn the screws upon him. The back-to-back hundreds against India in the ODI series may provide some psychological relief but if he gets out in the 70s or 80s again, the monkey would be prominently back on his back. India need to exploit this weakness.

#5. Over-dependence on swing

England's seam bowling duo have struggled in dry conditions

Broad and Anderson are greats for England and currently the two leading wicket takers in Test cricket’s history for their nation. But off late, they seem to have become rather ineffective in conditions which don’t favor swing bowlers.

The problem seems to be more pronounced with Stuart Broad. While Anderson was able to get respectable returns in Australia, Broad had a poor series and found himself caught in a spat with former England captain Michael Vaughan when the latter suggested that Broad be dropped after the loss to Pakistan in the first Test of the home series. He responded angrily to those comments and did produce a decent performance in the second Test but concerns about his consistency remain.

Anderson’s comments blaming the flatness of pitches for his ineffectiveness against Kohli in India during the 2016 tour may come back to haunt him. England is witnessing an unusually hot summer and if the weather remains the same, conditions may not favor swing bowling at all. This is when Indian batsmen need to hurt England and their much-vaunted pace duo.