Indian Test team's SWOT analysis

India have had a fair number of overseas outings this year. The year started with the tour to South Africa in January. India won ODI series and the T20I series hands down but they lost the Test series. Then, after the Nidahas trophy victory and the IPL, India thrashed Ireland in a two-match T20 series in June.

Then, India toured the much talked about series against England where India won just the T20I series and lost ODI series and Test series. A closer look into the performance reveals that India has played well with the white ball than with the red ball where the latter does the talking.

The other reason being Test match pitches are made conducive to bowlers. The Indian team is scheduled to tour Australia this November. Let’s delve deeper and assess the team’s performance using the SWOT analysis.

Strength:

Jasprit Bumrah, who was supposedly a shorter format specialist, was called up for the Test series against South Africa. This didn’t go down well with some critics and fans. But, that was short lived as Bumrah performed exceedingly well. Bumrah was getting that extra bounce which few Indian bowlers get and that is an essential ingredient to win Test matches outside the subcontinent.

Bhuvneswar Kumar who is equipped with wit and the ability to swing the ball both ways was at it again. Mohammed Shami, given that he can bowl at a good pace and can hit the deck hard, had to be in the team at any cost and he proved why he deserved a place. Ishant Sharma, a Test match specialist, exerted enough pressure on the opponents.

This had to be one of the best bowling attacks India has ever played with. Virat Kohli once again proved why he is the best batsman in the generation. He has answered every critic about his innings building capability in Test matches. Barring Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat got little support from the batting department. The inclusion of Hardik Pandya strengthened the much-needed team composition as he is someone who consistently bowls short balls and can be handy with the bat.

Weakness:

Indian top order batsman including Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul failed miserably in whatever chances they got. Murali Vijay and Rahul’s approach of spending time in the middle and accumulate runs did not work out as the South African and English bowlers were fierce. Shikhar Dhawan, on the other hand, took on the bowlers immediately but never lasted enough to make an impact. Pujara performed in patches.

In South African and English turfs where ball swings swiftly, you have two ways to tackle the bowlers. The first one is to start bashing the bowlers and put pressure back on the opposition as Virender Sehwag used to do. This can be related with an interesting statistic that the top scorers in the India-South Africa series being Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers and in the India-England series being Kohli and Jos Buttler. All of them play with an attacking mindset and possess a good strike rate.

The second way is to have enough perseverance as Rahul Dravid used to have and be cautious while playing shots to minimize the risks of getting out.

The other weak link was the spinners department in the team which primarily comprised R Ashwin. Ashwin has leaked lots of runs and has gone wicket-less in many instances whereas his English counterpart Moeen Ali has run through Indian batting order in a couple of instances. Even in the India-Australia Test series in the past, Nathan Lyon has decimated the Indian batting line up many times and Ashwin was not effective comparatively.

This owes to the fact that Moeen Ali and Lyon have a high-arm bowling action compared to Ashwin’s short-arm action. High arm action bowlers get a better turn because of the torque produced. They have consistently hit the right spot and troubled the batsmen and most of their dismissals have been caught out on the short leg or silly point.

Opportunity:

England v India: Specsavers 5th Test - Day Five

The Indian team will have a lot to prove, gradually improve and cover up the weakness. Rishabh Pant, who was absolutely ruthless in the last innings of the fifth Test against England, can be served as a weapon and the inclusion of Dinesh Karthik into the national side will fulfil the void, created by MS Dhoni, of a good wicketkeeper-batsman.

They will have an upper hand in the selection process over Wriddhiman Saha. The absence of Steve Smith and David Warner in the Australian team makes the batting line up a little feeble. Indian bowlers will lookout to make the best use of the absence of Australian honchos.