England vs India 2018 - Analyzing India's squad for the Test series against England

Lower Order (Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya)

Pandya now has a lot of responsibilities on his shoulders.

The retirement of MS Dhoni from test cricket left a big gap in the Indian lower order, but, slowly and steadily, Wriddhiman Saha developed himself into a worthy successor of the former Indian skipper.

However, ever since Saha got injured back in early 2018, India has played three tests and have played two different stumpers in those matches. Even though both Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik, Saha's replacement in those fixtures, are experienced campaigners, they have not had enough chances to represent the national team on a regular basis.

As a matter of fact, Karthik, who will be India's first choice keeper in this series, has only played a single test match in the last 8 years. Add to the fact that the second wicket keeper in the squad, Rishabh Pant, is yet to make his debut in the longest format, and India have a rather inexperienced two-third lower order in this series.

Hence, a lot of responsibilities will be on the shoulder of the third wheel of this group, Hardik Pandya, who, in a span of two years, has emerged as India's main all-rounder across all formats. With both Saha and Bhuvneshwar Kumar on sidelines, Pandya's batting with the tailenders will be crucial to India's chances.

Verdict - The Achilles heel of the team, which is the only weak spot in the squad.