Test series against West Indies before Australian tour: A bane for the Indian team?

There is a saying "you can only be as good as your last competition." This line describes the performance of the current Indian team perfectly.

Last year when this Indian team was playing in Sri Lanka, it was looking impeccable. They had a captain who had the world at his feet, top order was scoring heavily, middle order backing them up nicely. Bowling was also looking pitch perfect with spinners looking like world beaters, fast bowlers reverse swinging the ball and taking wickets at will. Everything was so hunky dory.

Amidst all this, we forgot that it was Sri Lanka, a team which is having its worst phase in the longest form of cricket.

If success against such opponents generates euphoria, then it's a warning signal for the intense battles to come.

This kind of success hides more than it reveals.

Shikhar Dhawan struggled during the last Australian tour

The success in Sri Lanka gave us a wrong impression about our openers. All the technical faults in their game got hid in the pile of runs they scored against a below-par attack. Needless to say that these faults got brutally exposed by a world-class bowling attack under testing conditions.

Also, introducing young players to the world of Test cricket in red carpet scenario like this creates a misnomer. Playing against a team like Sri Lanka in your debut series, that too in familiar conditions can make an ordinary player look like a world class player. Also, easy success like this sets the wrong expectation about the things to come. Some youngsters get carried away and hard work takes a back seat.

After the English debacle, Indian team's next big overseas assignment will be in Australia, which will be a 4-test series. But, in between comes West Indies.

Lessons learnt the hard way in England would come really handy in Australia. English series brought out the flaws of this Indian team in front of the whole world, that too with a view through a magnifying glass. Ideally, the Indian team should have ironed out these flaws, before going to Australia. Instead, they are going to play a weak West Indian team in home conditions.

Once again Indian openers will be looking to score one or two session hundreds. They could be heroes once again, conveniently forgetting the lessons learnt in England. Middle order will hardly get to play the new ball, which they often find themselves playing in the alien conditions. Spinners are likely to run through the skill-deficient West Indian batting without any resistance at all. Fast bowlers who need serious practice before the Australian tour will probably just turn up to make the numbers.

At the end of it all, everyone can just turn into a hero with accolades pouring in, which will create a sense of false confidence. It will also result in under preparation and a feel that all is well.

In cricket, it is very important to learn from your mistakes. Mistakes can happen on the pitch and in the scheduling as well. The scheduling of West Indian series just before the Australian series might result do more bad than good to the Indian team.