SWOT Analysis of India's Test squad versus England

A day after losing the ODI series to England at Headingley, the Indian selectors picked a strong 17-member squad for the first three Tests against England which begins at Edgbaston from the 1st of August.

Following his impressive showing in the white-ball leg of the tour, Kuldeep Yadav found a place as the third spinner with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, but even a bigger talking point was the inclusion of Rishabh Pant, who earned his maiden call-up into the Indian Test setup, as a backup for first choice gloveman Dinesh Karthik.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was not selected for the first three Tests owing to an aggravation of the back injury which kept him out of a large part of the white-ball series while Mohammad Shami has made a return to the Test side after not being included in the one-off Test against Afghanistan in June.

Here's a SWOT analysis of the squad picked for the first three Tests:

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Strengths

The batting. In Murali Vijay, KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan, India can an two out of the three that can give the team the start it is looking for. Virat Kohli may have had a poor series last time around, but he is a much different player this time and he will be hungry to succeed. Cheteshwar Pujara falls in the same bracket as Kohli and will have to be among the runs if India are to do well.

In Ajinkya Rahane, they have a player who has a proven overseas record and the runs from his bat will be crucial this time around.

It isn't often the case that India's bowlers are considered to be one of their strengths, but the fast bowling unit, barring the absence of Bhuvneshwar, does resemble a very competent outfit that can pose serious problems to the English.

How they fare during the course of the series and most importantly, how India try and keep them fit for the whole duration will be key if they are to win their first-ever series on English soil in 11 years.

Weakness

Wilk DK deliver in the absence of Saha?

The presence of a proper wicket-keeper. Ever since MS Dhoni quit Test cricket at the end of 2014, Wriddhiman Saha has taken over and become a very able replacement for Dhoni behind the stumps, especially while standing up to Ashwin and Jadeja on pitches with prodigious turn and bounce.

While Dinesh Karthik has worked hard and performed very well in domestic cricket to forge his way back into the Test setup, it is still unclear over whether he can be as reliable as Saha behind the gloves.

If he can show that he can be depended upon, then surely India would have found someone to bank upon for the future if any such scenario arises again.

Opportunities

Can Pujara and Kohli make it count in England this time?

The tour presents an opportunity for two players- Pujara and Kohli- to come good after their miserable run in 2014.

Both players have evolved considerably since the last time they were in England, with the former playing county cricket regularly in the last four years while the latter working on his game consistently to eradicate whatever flaws that exist in his game.

The series also presents an opportunity for the Indian bowling attack to show that what happened in South Africa, when they bowled the opposition out twice in all three Test matches was not a one-off and they have what it takes to do that in English conditions as well.

Threats

Will Shami remain fit for the duration of the series?

In South Africa, the bulk of the runs with the bat came from the bat of Virat Kohli while the rest played around him, without making any sizeable contributions. In England, it will be very interesting to see what happens if he failed and the mantle of taking the team to a big enough score fell on others.

Also, there is a question mark hanging almost always on Mohammad Shami and his fitness. With no Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the squad, India's swing bowling stocks depend on Shami and he will need to be monitored carefully if India are to do well in the series.