In about a month’s time, the Indian cricket team will fly to England to take on the hosts in a five match Test series, set to be on the motion from 4th August onwards with the Trent Bridge Cricket Ground serving as the venue for the initial match. Unfortunately, hopes are not so high for Virat Kohli and the cavalry.
The inaugural World Test Championship final last month, where Team India suffered a heartbreaking loss to New Zealand. Not only that, the defeat exposed some loopholes and weak points within the Men in Blue.
Now, as Kohli and company look forward to turning things around in their upcoming series against the Englishmen, the hosts will be focusing on taking advantage of the shortcomings of the Indian team that were seen against the Kiwis. On top of that, India’s last outing in England back in 2018 also resulted in a defeat for the visitors.
To improve their chances and to avert a repetition of the WTC Final, there are things that the Indian team needs to work on before they fly to England so they can redeem themselves with a convincing victory. To bet on the series and other cricket events, check out ThisWin cric betting site.
Here are some of the aspects that Team India needs to focus on improving against England:
Improvement of the batting partnership
The UK pitch has always been tough for the Indian batsmen and is one of the main factors behind them losing 12 out of their 15 visits. On top of that, the current Indian batting order has overall been out of form and despite displaying great starts to their innings, they have been failing to hold onto their consistency.
Maintaining consistency on the English pitch will mean lengthy partnerships, which will be pivotal behind putting up a huge scorecard as India has been unable to cross the 400 run mark nearly for the last two years. Try ThisWin sport betting to wage on future sports events and matches.
Solving the opener dilemma
Cheteshwar Pujara, who is touted to be one of the pillars of the Indian Test squad, churned out a horrible form in the WTC Final and is currently speculated to be dropped for the England series. Rahane, who was the top scorer for India against NZ with 49 runs, has been a hit and miss. The best thing about the ThisWin app Sport Live is that fans can watch and bet on live sport at the same time as the app has been curated keeping hardcore sports fans in mind.
With Shubman Gill ruled out of the England series due to a leg injury, Mayank Agarwal is the likely option to be the opener in need, who will be making his first appearance in England. Prithvi Shaw and Devdutt Padikkal have also been considered by the Team management.
Addition of a swinger/bowling all-rounder
One area that the current Indian test squad lacks is the absence of a swinger to fit in with the swing friendly pitch, as well as a proper bowling all rounder to be the link between the batting and bowling squads.
Shardul Thakur is the only option for India at the moment to fit the bowling all-rounder role, but the 29-year-old will need to work on his performance as his Test cricket resume is still remaining bland with only two international appearances in the red ball format. Head over to ThisWin app download to get a taste of sports betting.
Taking care of English tailenders
One of the reasons behind India’s loss at the hands of England back in 2018 was the failure of the visitors in eliminating the English tailenders. England, which has a stout middle and lower order, will feature Sam Curran, the one who destroyed India in their last outing, along with other match winning heavyweights such as Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, and Chris Woakes.
On the green pitch, India is expected to go with three pacers, but the lack of a proper bowling all-rounder, as said before, can push Kohli to go with four pacers. The WTC Final also saw the Indian bowlers failing to dismiss the tailenders, even though they can comfortably pick the top order. The case will be same in England- the Men in Blue bowlers must focus on getting the scalps of the English lower order.
