In Stats: What India Need to Do to Win the Test Series vs England

The Indian team management need to focus on three key aspects during the five-match Test series against England.

The challenge in front of the Indian captain Virat Kohli is straightforward – defeat England and win a Test series in their backyard. It feels like a simple challenge, doesn’t it? But the enormity of the task can be established from the fact that such a feat has been accomplished by Indian teams only thrice in 17 previous visits to the country.

One expects there will be a certain level of desperation in the Indian camp to win this upcoming Test series. The captain has more than a score to settle – his dismal performance in the 2014 Test tour of England sticks out like a sore thumb, and he will want to set the record right.

Virat Kohli has had a successful run as captain so far – winning 21 of the 35 Tests he has led the team in; the majority of those wins, however, have been at home or while playing elsewhere in the sub-continent. For captains leading sub-continent teams, the real test and most-valued accomplishment is winning (not just a Test but a series) outside the subcontinent. On this count, Virat Kohli already has one cross against his name; under his leadership, Team India lost the Test series in South Africa at the start of this year. He cannot afford another series loss.

Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri have been making all the right noises in the lead up to the series.

Every series is important and for us there is no away game; every game is a home game because we don’t play the opponent. We play the pitch. Our job is to conquer pitches, wherever you go – Mumbai, Delhi or London. It is those 22 yards that we have to try and conquer.

Ravi Shastri, Indian coach, on the eve of the team’s departure to the UK

"We are one of the sides that is looking forward to going to other countries and playing, to change the trend of teams being bad travellers," said Virat Kohli, Indian captain on the eve of the team's departure to the UK.

"On this entire trip, you will never see an Indian team giving excuses with regards to conditions or the pitch," said Ravi Shastri, Indian coach, on the eve of the team's departure to the UK.

The time has arrived for the Indian team to prove they are more than just about saying the right things and actually mean business. The Indian team gave a good account of themselves in the limited-overs formats – winning the T20I series (2-1) and losing the ODI series (1-2) – and will believe they are equipped to win the Test series.

Here’s what India need to do to win the Test series against England.

1. Select Wisely

While respecting the selectors for the difficult job they do, and allowing for the fact that selection, much like captaincy, is about instinct and gut feel, the on-tour selection committee need to be extremely prudent in naming the eleven men who will take the field.

The on-tour selection committee was criticised for poor selection on the tour of South Africa earlier this year. In Cape Town, questions were asked over the preference of Rohit Sharma ahead of Ajinkya Rahane, and then in Centurion eyebrows were raised over the exclusion of Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Selection will once again come under the microscope – particularly with regards to the selection of the opening batsmen, picking the number three and the formation of the bowling attack.

India should begin with Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay as the openers. Though Cheteshwar Pujara is a Test specialist and is generally seen as the banker, he has been woefully out of form in recent times and should therefore vacate the number three slot for the immensely talented KL Rahul.

2. Stick to Two Spinners in the Line-Up

The United Kingdom is experiencing a heatwave – so much so that the MCC has decided to dispense with requirement for gentlemen to wear jackets. It is extremely unlikely that surfaces and overhead conditions will have too much in it for the fast bowlers. Therefore, unless the surfaces are lush green and pitches are being impacted by high levels of underground water, India must consider fielding two spinners in the XI regularly.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Kuldeep Yadav makes India’s playing XI for the first Test at Edgbaston; the left-arm wrist spinner created a scar or two in the limited-overs leg of the tour, and I am sure captain Kohli and coach Shastri – who will want to land the early blows – will be considering Kuldeep for the series opener.

3. Don’t Gift Wickets to Moeen Ali

There are tons of bowlers of the calibre of Moeen Ali playing in the various maidans of India who will not make it to their state side, forget becoming the national team’s frontline spinner. Yet, on the previous tour of England in 2014, the off-spinner walked away with a bagful of wickets, ending the series as the joint second-highest wicket-taker along with Stuart Broad and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Hopefully, the Indian batsmen will remember the damage Moeen caused in that series in 2014 and will work to avoid a repeat of the same.

India’s (likely) XI for the Edgbaston Test:

Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami.