Key issues Indian Test team needs to address

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India pulled off a memorable heist in the third Test at the Wanderers when they schooled South Africa at their own game of pace and bounce. On a snake pit masquerading as the 3rd Test match pitch, India's batsmen led by their skipper and 'returning' Vice-Captain showed admirable tenacity, especially in the third innings of Test when the pitch was at its most venomous.

India with the help of the win managed to retain their No.1 ranking but it was yet another overseas series loss. A series that was built up as being India's best chance to finally win a Test series in South Africa, quickly fizzled away thanks to a plethora of bizarre team selections and insipid display by batsmen and slip fielders.

Now that the dust over the win in the third Test has settled and with tours of England and Australia looming large, Virat Kohli and the team need to address key issues if they are to reverse their fortunes overseas.

Here's a look at key issues Indian Test team needs to address to reverse their overseas glum:

#1 Hardik Pandya's role

That Kohli likes what Pandya brings to the table is a no-brainer, but the balance of the team should never be compromised. Apart from his brave albeit lucky 93 in the first innings, Hardik added a mere 26 runs in his next five innings, giving volume to the critic's view of his Cape Town heroics as a 'flash in the pan'. Apart from runs, it is the manner in which Pandya gave his wicket away especially in the first innings at Centurion, raised few eyebrows over his temperament.

Series Stats-
Match: 3, Runs: 119, Batting Avg: 19.83, Wickets: 3, Bowling Average: 54

He didn't have a great series with the bowl either taking just three wickets at 54, on wickets tailor-made for seam and swing bowling, failing to fulfill the job of a fifth bowler. Bits and pieces cricketers may survive in limited overs cricket but the grind of Test cricket exposes them to the hilt, hence going forward India really needs to define Hardik Pandya's role, whether they see him as a sixth batsman or a fifth bowler, none of which he fulfilled in South Africa.

#2 Playing a specialist Wicket keeper instead of a batsman who can keep.

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It is often said and stressed that wicket-keeping is a specialist job and a player for the coveted spot should be chosen primarily for his keeping skills with batting being an added bonus. The success of Adam Gilchrist and MS Dhoni has revolutionized team management's thought process around the world, with wicket-keepers being looked up as a specialist batsman. The latter is justifiable but not at the cost of a compromise on wicket-keeping skills.

Though Saha, who had recorded 9 dismissals in the first Test and probably looked the only safe pair of hands behind the wicket, picked up an injury before the second Test, however it was no secret that India was flirting with the idea of playing Parthiv in the top order at the cost of Saha in a bid to strengthen their batting, evident by Parthiv's promotion at the top in the second innings of the Wanderer's Test. The move backfired significantly as Parthiv dropped a plethora of catches in the second Test and scoring 56 runs across four innings, and something India needs to wary off, as they can't afford their wicketkeeper to drop catches at crucial junctures of the game, come England and Australia.

#3 Resolving the Opening Conundrum

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One of the foremost reasons why Indian teams of the 2000s used to do well in their overseas sojourn was due to their openers blunting out the new ball and setting a platform for their famed middle order to take the game forward. Whether it was Sanjay Bangar (68 off 268 balls at Leeds, 2002), Virender Sehwag's aggression (195 at the McG, 2003), Akash Chopra's resilience down under in 2003-04 or even the Murali Vijay on India's previous overseas trips, the openers always weathered the early storm.

Series Stats-
Murali Vijay:-
Matches: 3, Innings: 6, Runs: 102, Avg: 17, 50s/100s: 0/0
Shikhar Dhawan:-
Matches: 1, Innings: 2, Runs: 32, Avg: 16.00, 50s/100s: 0/0
KL Rahul:-
Matches: 2, Innings: 4, Runs: 45, Avg: 11.25, 50s/100s: 0/0

Unfortunately, on this trip to the rainbow nation, India's middle order found themselves facing the music in the first ten overs pretty much every innings. Shikhar Dhawan, not having any trust in his technique played bizarre shots in both the innings, raising further questions on his credentials as an overseas opener. India needs to take a decision on whether they see Dhawan(who averages 27.81 in 22 innings) in their overseas plans, as they can't keep bringing him back based on his returns in Asia and plummet KL Rahul's confidence to a new low, which was evident in his performance in the last two Tests.

The success of Murali Vijay on his previous overseas stints was essentially built on his patience for balls around the fourth and fifth stump, a practice he didn't adhere to in the first five innings of the series. He showed a glimpse of it in the final innings, something India would desperately want on a more consistent basis in the next set of overseas tours.

#4 Team Selection

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That Kohli likes to select players on 'Horses for Courses' is a testimony to the fact that he is still to play the same eleven in his captaincy career. Ajinikya Rahane, India's most accomplished Test batsman overseas was a bench in favor of Rohit Sharma, who was coming off after scoring tons of runs against Sri Lanka at home. Rahane's exclusion was preposterous on two counts. Firstly on pitches as lively as the ones in this series, you need your most technically assured batsmen in your team and also because Rahane is India's best slip fielder and with a cordon as weak as India's his absence was felt even more. Rohit Sharma failed in the four innings he played and the slip cordon minus Rahane dropped a plethora of catches, most notable being Dhawan's drop off Maharaj in the first innings of Cape Town Test.

Kohli contradicted his theory with his second move when he controversially dropped India's hero with both bat and ball, Bhuvneshwar Kumar in favor of Ishant Sharma. Kumar's absence was immediately felt when India wasn't able to take early breakthroughs. Bhuvi made an instant impact when he was awarded Man of the Match in the following Test at the Wanderers.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar:-
Series Stats-
Matches: 2, Runs: 102, Batting Avg: 33.67, Wickets: 10, Bowling Average: 20.3

While 'Horses For Courses' theory is good but Virat Kohli and the team management going forward need to be consistent with team selection, especially when traveling overseas rather than chop and change every game, creating doubts in the minds of the players about their role in the side.

#5 Better pre-series preparation.

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This issue engulfs not only Indian cricket but World cricket in general. In this day and age of constant cricket, the touring teams often come into the first Test of an overseas sojourn either having played no warm-up games like India did or playing against sub-standard oppositions on pitches completely different from what they get greeted with when the actual series starts, like England and Australia, do in their respective Ashes tours.

This issue needs to be addressed by the respective boards while deciding the itinerary of a Test series keeping at least two warm-up games before the first match and against First Class opposition. Ravi Shastri in the aftermath of the second Test loss admitted that 7-10 days of practice before the series would have made the difference, it is this key lesson that India needs to learn and implement for the coming tours of England and Australia.

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Edited by Amar Anand