5 areas India need to improve

It was a battle between David and Goliath. David, the underdog, lost an arm at the start of the battle on the famed grounds of Galle, failed to put up a fight and appeared as small as an ant in front of the giant Goliath. Goliath, powerful and huge, with famed victories at home, had lost to David on neutral territory in a competition two months ago and had landed on David's island to crush him. History says David beat Goliath but this is not history and hence Goliath had a different ending in store for us all.

For those of you who are still confused, we are talking about the battle between India and Sri Lanka. At one point in time, the matches were fought inch for inch but Sri Lanka have since been in rapid decline with their latest humiliation coming at Galle in the series opener last week.

India, led by Virat Kohli, were merciless and dominating. They were next to flawless in every aspect of the game and barely gave Lanka a sniff of even a draw.

As the teams prepare for the second Test at Colombo (SSC), Sri Lanka have a lot of thinking to do. But can India afford to relax? Are they really flawless? Here we take a look at five areas the Indian team could improve on.

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#5 Sort out the opening conundrum

Dhawan shot into the limelight with his 190 but will he make way for KL Rahul?

Before the series, India had a clear idea of who their Test openers were - Murali Vijay and Lokesh Rahul. But both of them suffered injuries prior to the series and Abhinav Mukund, picked as the third opener for the tour, slotted into the starting XI while Shikhar Dhawan, dropped from the Test team a while back was recalled.

Dhawan smashed a cracking 190 while Mukund contributed with some spectacular fielding efforts aside from an 81 in the second innings. Now Rahul is fit for the second Test and India have a problem of plenty.

Do they stick with Dhawan and Mukund, who both made telling contributions or do they go with Rahul instead? If they choose Rahul, then who does he replace? What happens when Vijay comes back?

Several questions will haunt the selectors and Kohli in the next few Tests and how they answer them will go a long way in preparing them for their upcoming overseas assignments.

#4 Developing Ashwin into an overseas bowler

Ashwin is yet to turn into the bowler India want him to be on quicker wickets

There is a funny thing about Ravichandran Ashwin. He is outstanding on home turf and worshipped by the fans, but as soon as he sets foot abroad, questions begin to surround him. The Tamil Nadu spinner has terrorised batsmen on dusty, crumbling Indian wickets but on greener pastures, Ashwin has been impatient and all over the place.

Ashwin showed signs of improvement at Galle with his dismissals of Dickwella and Karunaratne earning India a win. But he is still far from being a real force overseas.

While Jadeja has fewer variations, he compensates by bowling tighter lines. Ashwin though runs out of patience and experiments far too often when things don't go his way. The Lankan series will be a testing one for Ashwin, with bigger challenges awaiting the offie in the future.

#3 Captaincy

Shastri was all praise for Kohli but there are a few areas the Indian captain needs to work on

Ravi Shastri might have hailed Virat Kohli as a shrewd skipper but the brash Delhiite still has a long way to go before he can be compared to the likes of MS Dhoni. With Lanka's backs against the wall at Galle, Kohli should have been talking and walking aggression with his field placements.

But he opted to go the defensive route, something which Indian skippers of the past have also been guilty of. It was strange to see lots of gaps in the infield with Lanka struggling to stay afloat in the contest.

A stronger team like South Africa or England would have surely made India pay for their defensive mindset. Kohli needs to mature as a captain, and all eyes will be on him after the Kumble fiasco.

#2 Keeping their fast bowlers motivated and fit

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been overlooked despite his consistency

With India set to play many series on quicker tracks in the coming months, the focus will be on the fast bowlers who were effective at home albeit being overshadowed by the spinners. But Jadeja and Ashwin have faltered on overseas tours before and the onus will be on the likes of Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma to step up.

The first two put in eye-catching performances at Galle and would in all likelihood be the preferred seamers. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has delivered every time he has been called upon in the longer format, should ideally make the XI as the third seamer but with Hardik Pandya staking his claim and Kohli preferring raw pace, Bhuvneshwar's path is not too smooth.

That said, it is up to the Indian management and the coach-skipper combo to keep the quicker men motivated and rejuvenated. It will be a tough task given that Shami and Umesh could well be the only two to get game time in Lanka.

#1 Managing Hardik Pandya, the bowler

Pandya's bowling needs to be developed

Hardik Pandya thrilled Indian fans with a run a ball half-century on debut. However, he will need to show that he has a different side to his game as well.

The fact that he was given a mere three overs in Lanka's first innings in the first Test was bizarre considering he had been picked as a seam bowling all-rounder. In the second innings as well Pandya generated reverse swing that troubled the Sri Lankans. Providing him with the opportunity to bowl more often could only be beneficial especially if he is to be considered on greener wickets.

If he can slot in as the third seamer, he needs to show that he can perform with the ball and unless he gets more overs under his belt, that isn't going to happen. Pandya's future could well be decided by how the team manages him. He could go the Stokes way or the Brathwaite way. Only time will tell.