India's inability to wind-up the tail continues to haunt them.

You can think of any of the great fast bowling sides, be it the great West Indian teams of the 70s and 80s or Australia's pace battery containing the likes of Mcgrath, Lee and Gillespie, or the Pakistani duo of Wasim and Waqar; all these lineups could clean up any batsman, be it the top-order or the middle-order.

These bowlers used to cause a terror in the minds of the best of batsmen, but think what used to go through the minds of the lower order batsmen. The might as well give up than getting their bones ripped apart by these lightning quicks.

These bowlers would pocket the tail-enders 9 out of a10 times in the blink of an eye. It is the privilege of a captain to be gifted with such comfort. Even if they aren't in the greatest form, the captain would throw the ball to them, and they will find ways to wrap up the tail. Unfortunately, an Indian captain has been deprived of such a commodity from the starting.

Wrapping up the tail is not a new worry for India. It's like an old tradition which is still being continued till date. Team India has lost several matches on the back of this inability and it's not that India has not produced good Test bowlers.

Starting from the great Kapil Dev to Srinath-Zaheer to Ishant Sharma to Shami-Bhuvi to Bumrah, there have been match winners. On their day, any of the above bowlers can rip apart any batting attack. Add the likes of Kumble, Harbhajan and Ashwin.

Not delving into the past, we look at India's current generation which is being lauded as the best set of bowlers that the country has produced. It has got pace, variety and surely a great deal of skill. But have they got the ability to run through the tail? Thus far, the answer is a sad "no".

England is certainly a swing bowler's delight. Bowlers just love having the Duke Ball in their hands. The Indian bowlers have so far been phenomenal in the current series versus England and have even bettered their English counterparts on many occasions.

The likes of Ishant, Bumrah and Shami have been able to make early inroads but haven't really been able to hold onto the momentum for too long. For the third time in four tests, the Indians have had England under the cosh with 5-6 quick wickets and then were unable to fold out the tail.

It's as if a student did the most difficult part of the work and then delayed the easy part for later. Sam Curran's cameo in the second innings of the first test proved to be the decisive moment and could well turn out to be the one for the series.

Again in Southampton, sans Curran, England were in danger of holding out for a mediocre total after being reduced to 86-6 by the Indian pacers. With history repeating itself again, India allowed the game to slip a bit as England managed a competitive 246 in the end.

Sam Curran's counter-attacking knock saw India losing grip.

Experience is the key is what experts say. Then how can an 86-Test bowler not learn till now? Ishant Sharma has always been slated as an unlucky bowler who bowls well but doesn't get rewards for it. Now he has learned to bowl fuller, his wicket column is showing a hike, yet he isn't the bowler for the tail.

On the other hand, the newest member of the pace attack, Jasprit Bumrah, a highly successful limited overs bowler has switched over to Test cricket like a duck takes to water.

In just a couple of series, he has become India's main weapon and Kohli's go-to man. Probably, the Gujarat-lad is the best candidate for smacking the final nail in the opposition's coffin. We can only hope that he learns the art and not suffer the fate other fast bowlers have suffered.

Shami is probably the most skilful bowler of the attack. He has to improve his consistency but if he has his rhythm going, he looks like taking a wicket every ball as was the case at Edgbaston. He is now an experienced bowler and should take the responsibility of leading the pace attack.

It's high time that Indian pacers learn from their mistakes and not experiment too much while bowling to their counterparts. They have to learn to back their good work; else India will continue to lose matches from where they would have chances of dominating them. We can just pray that Southampton test doesn't turn out to be the latest addition to the list.