England v India, Test series 2018: How will the Indian batsmen fare?

India's long run of away matches recently began when they faced Ireland and England in a two- and three-match T20I series respectively. The Men in Blue dominated proceedings in the shortest format as they whitewashed Ireland and later defeated England in two of the three T20s.

The English batsmen struggled to pick the spinners from the hand, which led to their downfall in the first T20I. Further, theeir bowlers were taken aback by KL Rahul who played a fine knock, scoring the second century of his T20I career.

After beating the hosts 2-1 in the T20 series, Team India have now moves to the one-day internationals. The English team have had a delightful summer so far; they dominated Australia from the word go and also registered the highest ever score in one-day internationals.

On the other hand, the Indian side will feature in an ODI after a gap of 5 months. Their last ODI series was against South Africa in February.

The one-day series will be intriguing but India's real challenge lies ahead with the 5 Tests coming up on English soil.

Over the years, conditions in England have changed a lot. The curators have now moved to flat wickets instead of the green damp wickets which were prevalent in olden times. England's weather has accompanied these changes in the pitch conditions. The sun now shines brighter than ever before as the dark clouds seem to stay away.

But will those dark clouds stay away when the Indians bat? Will the sunshine bring new light to the Indian side? Let us analyze India's batsman and their chances of success in the upcoming 5 Tests.

Openers

The opening conundrum has to be addressed

The experts reckon that this is the best ever Indian side to tour England. Kohli has a plethora of options to choose from as India's batting depth speaks volumes of its caliber. The side has three openers in the form of southpaw Shikhar Dhawan, the monk-like Murali Vijay and the classy KL Rahul.

In 2014, Vijay remodelled himself during the England tour; he started leaving a lot of balls outside the off stump which helped his cause against swing. But earlier this year, Vijay struggled in South Africa as he was chasing deliveries which were bowled on the 5th stump line.

The 'monk' was India's most dependable batsman back in 2014 when he amassed 402 runs in 10 innings at an average of 40.2, with his strike rate of 38.14 being less than his average. To succeed in the tough English conditions Vijay will need to show mental toughness along with a solid 2014-like technique.

Shikhar Dhawan, India's most attacking batsman in Test cricket, is often considered a flat track bully. On his day the southpaw can rip apart any bowling lineup, but can he do that in England?

Surprisingly, Dhawan was the leading run scorer in the 2013 and 2017 editions of the Champions Trophy held in England. Then why can't he score during the Test matches?

Back in 2014, Dhawan was not giving himself enough time to stick around at the wicket, which repeatedly led to his downfall; he scored only 122 runs in 6 innings. He applied himself in one innings when he scored 37, but he gave his wicket away in an attempt to attack.

This year he'll feature in the Tests with a bit more confidence than the previous time, but his nightmare against swing bowling is still expected to continue.

KL Rahul is one of India's finest and most underrated batsmen. Rahul took the IPL by storm when he registered a 15-ball half century in his first game for the Kings XI Punjab. Rahul's scintillating form continued with his heroics in the first T20I at Manchester where he took the side home by scoring a spectacular century.

This is Rahul's first England tour and he'll look to make the most of his opportunity. His form in the ODIs would help him during his time in the longer format.

Middle Order

Will Kohli rewrite his England horrors?

Cheteshwar Pujara will take India's number three spot during the Tests. Pujara's county stint will likely help him survive in the testing English conditions. While he has not been in the best of form in recent times, his survival instincts, calmness and determination will help him bat for long hours.

Pujara's statistics in England are not promising but he will certainly try to better his records in the upcoming five Tests.

India's skipper Virat Kohli will take the number four spot. Kohli will look to rewrite his England horrors when he takes the field in whites. In 2014, Virat only scored 134 runs in 10 innings at an unacceptable average of 13.4.

Anderson's 4th stump line troubled Kohli as he failed to show compactness in his defensive technique. Kohli's trigger movement ended at the off stump, which forced him to play at deliveries bowled on the 4th stump. The England bowlers targeted Kohli at that line and the current Indian skipper had no answers.

Four years later, Kohli will don the whites as one of the finest batsmen in the world. The 29-year-old will be the key to India's success on this tour.

India's most equipped batsman Ajinkya Rahane has been short on confidence in recent times. He has failed in numerous crunch situations lately, and has failed to capture the captain's attention. Earlier this year, he was dropped for the first two Tests in South Africa.

However, Rahane showed a lot of fight during India's last tour to England, and his century at Lord's helped the visitors to a famous victory. Rahane's hunger for runs has been missing for long but the Mumbaikar is expected to get his form back.

Wicketkeeper - Saha or Karthik?

Karthik was a part of India's XI for the Test against Afghanistan

Wriddhiman Saha's thumb injury forced the selectors to opt for Dinesh Karthik for the Afghanistan Test in June. The Men in Blue tried Parthiv Patel in South Africa but his ordinary keeping and batting failures allowed Karthik to play in the Afghanistan Test. However, Karthik failed to take his opportunity as he was run out for 4.

That said, Saha hasn't been in action since the IPL playoffs. And Karthik was India's leading run scorer in the 2007 England tour, a stat that may help him get a nod over India's regular recent keeper.

Saha has never played in England whereas Karthik averages 43.83 with the bat there, albeit he played as a batsman in 2007. Both the Indian wicketkeepers would be behind the stumps for the first time in Test cricket in England, and they are both likely to make the squad.

The team combination would be crucial in picking the wicketkeeper. Saha is likely to miss out if the management decides to play five bowlers.

Karun or Rohit?

Rohit scored a match-winning 100 in the third T20I

Rohit Sharma played in place of Ajinkya Rahane in two Tests in South Africa but Rohit's failure gave an opportunity for Rahane to make a comeback. Rohit was rested for the Test against Afghanistan and is likely to come back for the series against England. His 100 in the third T20I would help him make a case for himself.

Rohit's limited overs record in England is quite convincing, and the lack of middle-order batting options may help him get a place in the squad.

Karun Nair wasted his opportunity in the Afghanistan Test but the Karnataka batsman has been in decent form for India A in England. Nair led the India A side to victory in the 1st unofficial Test against Windies A.

Batsmen like Mayank Agarwal and R Samarth have also performed well in recent times, but Nair's experience will likely help him get the nod over the other two Karnataka batsmen.

It will be interesting to watch the likes of Anderson and Broad swing the red cherry, but will the Indian batsman be able to negotiate the swing? Only time will tell.