Despite the series win, what's wrong with Indian cricket?

India cannot depend on Ashwin always

With Virat Kohli leading the side to yet another historic Test series win, the amount of optimism doing the rounds in Indian cricketing circles is infectious to say the least. The amount of jubilation which is justified - Kohli with his wide eyes and angry fist pump is always raring to go - should only possibly be tempered with a few grave concerns that are plaguing the team at the moment.

The glory earned by victory creates a smokescreen against which the long-term problems are often temporarily forgotten. Under Kohli, India have now won two back-to-back Test series this year. The tasks were not easy for India's newly crowned Test skipper. India had not won a Test series in Sri Lanka for two decades before the series win this year.

And the loss inflicted on South Africa by Kohli's men in this series means that this is the first time in a decade that a South African captain has lost a Test series on Indian soil. But public memory is proverbially short-lived.

Yes, we shall celebrate this victory but at the same time, let us not forget some of the problems that the Indian team needs to address right now.

India's batsmen continue to falter

The retirement of the fabulous four was considered to be a watershed moment in the history of Indian cricket and there was much speculation if there would ever be satisfactory replacements for them. A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then and India have had mostly an unhappy time in Test cricket as expected. But it is only with the passage of time that India's batsmen of the golden generation are being missed more than ever.

Kohli has been having a rather forgettable year to say the least. Though he has at times displayed the odd sparks of form, he looks to be a shadow of the player he was till early last year when he seemed to be scoring centuries for fun.

Wriddhiman Saha though a reassuring presence behind the stumps, has done precious little with the bat to justify his inclusion. And the clock must just be ticking for Shikhar Dhawan who seems to have forgotten what it is like to score runs.

With the recent retirement of Virender Sehwag, the fans have been wondering if India would ever have an opener like him who with his immaculate stroke-play knew how to push the opposition on the backfoot in their very own backyard on the first day of a Test match.

Unfair home advantage?

India have traditionally remained very poor travellers and have particularly struggled in overseas conditions. India have received a drubbing at the hands of England and Australia away from home last year that might have ultimately compelled Dhoni to retire from Test cricket.

India's problems on the foreign soil interestingly go back a long way - it is only under Sourav Ganguly that things began to change for the better. But it is also fair to suggest that Ganguly had one of the most talented Indian teams ever playing under him and they had the skill and confidence to do well in overseas conditions.

The last time India won a Test series away from home before the current back-to-back series wins under Kohli was the narrow 1-0 victory in West Indies in 2011. The last time India had won a Test series away playing on fast, bouncy tracks was against the Kiwis in New Zealand back in 2009. The likes of Tendulkar, Sehwag, Dravid and Laxman were still around back then and had put in some commendable performances with the bat.

This goes to show, and quite alarmingly perhaps, that the current crop of Indian batsmen are yet to deliver commanding batting performances in Tests. It is not just about the away Test wins - it has been some time since we have seen India string together good partnerships and score big totals in Test matches even at home.

Nor does the team boast of any fiery fast bowler ever since Zaheer Khan faded out of the scene. Ishant Sharma has been brilliant at times but mostly inconsistent. With Ravichandran Ashwin having the time of his life, much of India's success at home sadly depends on creating rank turners now.

With pitches turning square almost from the very first day of a Test match, Ashwin has been virtually unplayable as he keeps running through the opposition. But with batsmen struggling and no fast bowler to look up to, India's upcoming overseas campaigns might prove to be a disaster.

India cannot always expect Ashwin to single-handedly win Test matches for India and it is only when he has a bad outing that Kohli will have his sternest test as a captain.

Question marks over India's ODI and T20 form

How much India has been depending on turning pitches to win Test matches at home become even more obvious when we look at India's recent form in limited overs cricket. South Africa have comprehensively beaten India in their own backyard in the recently concluded T20 and ODI series.

Barring the glorious world cup campaign where India reached the semi-finals, India's recent ODI form has been worrying to say the least.

The reasons are manifold the most obvious being India's abysmal track record of producing quality fast bowlers. There is no serious effort to nurture fast bowling in the country at present - with the country more keen to churn out flat dustbowls for ODIs and rank turners for Tests, any youngster should be forgiven for not wanting to be a fast bowler.

The dismal performances of India's medium pacers, especially during the slog overs, are letting the team down time and again.

And like in Tests, most of India's limited overs batsmen, barring Rohit Sharma, have been too inconsistent of late. India's inability to produce a dependable all-rounder seems to be seriously hurting India's limited overs chances.

India have tinkered with the possibility of going in with Binny or Jadeja, but none of them seem to have delivered the performances expected from them. With MS Dhoni clearly no longer being the finisher that he was and Raina lacking his calm cricketing astuteness, the search for a limited overs finisher needs to be stepped up at the moment.

And the questions about Ravi Shastri simply refuse to go away. Shastri was at best a stop-gap director - a post which was actually created for him in the first place - but for some, he has clearly overstayed at the helm now. Though Shastri might well continue till the T20 world cup next year, he seems to lack the long-term vision to build a team.

With no good fast bowlers, no all-rounders, no reliable limited overs finisher and a precariously brittle top order repeatedly crumbling, how long will Test matches that do not even last three days on rank turning pitches save Shastri's job?

His performance as a director-coach sincerely lacks his tracer bullet-like dynamism in the commentators' box. It is time for Shastri to walk the talk. Otherwise, the doctor's order might not be a very happy one for him.