5 reasons why teams are failing to win overseas Test series
Over the last decade in international cricket, the biggest adversity for the touring teams is to consistently win in overseas conditions. We have witnessed some exciting Test matches in the recent past, but the series has always gone in favour of the home team. There have been some spectacular performances with batsmen from the touring party scoring big daddy hundreds and bowlers bowling memorable spells in alien conditions. Apart from the individual brilliance of a few guys, teams, in general, have failed to capitalize the key moments and sustain the momentum for the length of the entire series.
Let us look into some of the parameters which are constantly hindering teams to taste overseas Test success.
Scheduling of Test Matches
With the advent of the cash-rich T20 leagues, cricket boards have become more bullish to give these leagues more space which eventually crams the International calendar. Nowadays, we hardly get to see an ODI bilateral series which has any context. This eats up a chunk in the itinerary and teams are left with no option, but to play back-to-back Test matches. This results in a failure to acclimatize to the conditions, as there is very less time to play a practice match or two. In addition to this, there is a major issue of burnout and players getting injured on a regular basis.
We have had many such examples like Australia's recent tour of India in 2017, which also involved Australia playing a T20 series against Sri Lanka, 4 days before the start of the first Test match in Pune. Similarly, England playing 7 Test matches in the sub-continent against India and Bangladesh in about 8 weeks in the winter of 2016. This intrigues the followers to really understand the logic behind scheduling Test matches.
The other major factor has been the scheduling of Test matches during off seasons. This leads to an abandonment of practice with teams having no choice, but to compromise by practising in the indoor facilities. If ICC doesn't pay attention towards proper and logical scheduling, the excitement around a marquee series will dilute in the future. There will be no player versus player contests as the risk of players getting injured will be on the increase. This will eventually affect the TRP hungry broadcasters and fans alike.