It is said that a leader that knows the way, goes the way’ and this was true when Team India was led by Virat Kohli. However, ever since Kohli left the Test captaincy, BCCI seems to be in a mess. The cricketing board is playing a musical chair with the leadership role. Let us decode Team India’s key problem areas in the recent Tests
1. Leadership woes
In the last 5 Test games, India has won only 2 games that were at home against Sri Lanka. Under the leadership of Rohit Sharma, Sri Lanka was defeated 2-0. India toured South Africa at the end of the year 2021, the hosts won the series 2-1, and one of the two defeated games was under the leadership of KL Rahul. And, recently the last game with Bumrah as the captain ended in a loss too. So, what is Team India missing? A good leader? A solid middle order? A formidable pace attack? Let us decode what is wrong with the team India.
2. Top-order
Team India’s ideal opening pair KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma, unfortunately, have constantly been suffering from injuries. When one recovers, the other gets injured. This has created a lot of chaos for the team. The lack of a good opening pair is creating a hindrance in giving the team a good start. What can be done? Mayank Agarwal is a dependable opener and has proved to be useful for the team when given the opportunity, maybe it is time that the Team starts looking for a permanent backup opener.
3. Team India’s middle-order is in a mess
Pujara, Kohli, Vihari, and Iyer, the men in blue’s current middle order, scream for help. Even though Pujara had a good county season, unfortunately, he couldn’t bring that form into the final Test when the team needed it the most. Kohli has been in a purple patch for almost 2 years now. Anything and everything he tries just seems to go down the drain. Vihari was backed by the team as a replacement to Rahane, to act as the backbone of the team but alas! that hasn’t been the case either. Shreyas Iyer had a good home season in the Sri Lanka series. However, he couldn’t make the same impact in the Test against England. His short ball weakness was exposed, resulting in him giving his wicket to the opponent. One really can’t expect the team to win when 5 of the top 7 batsmen are struggling.
4. Lack of a killer pace attack
To win the Test match, you have to take 20 wickets. When playing in overcast conditions, teams usually rely on their pacers. However, recently India is lacking a good 4th pacer that has the ability to pick crucial wickets. Currently, the Indian team majorly has to rely on Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami to pick wickets but they lack support from the other side. Siraj has had a poor IPL season and there wasn’t much difference in the final game he played. Lacking line and length, he seemed in trouble when the opponents were scoring easy runs. Thakur, the team’s fast bowling all-rounder has not lived up to the expectations. Disappointing with both bat and ball, it is time for the team to look beyond Thakur while bringing back Umesh as the replacement for Siraj.