Four issues the India need to address before the Australian tour
Two disappointing overseas Test series defeat in South Africa and England follow a similar trend that needs to be addressed if India wants to conquer the Australian soil. The lopsided 4-1 series defeat scoreline might not suggest the amount of competitive cricket the two teams played during the series.
But, it was a series every true cricket fan will remember. The series saw Virat Kohli conquering the English soil after the forgetful tour 2014 and it also turned out to be the last Test series of the English legend Alastair Cook who bid goodbye to international cricket with a century on a winning note in his last Test match.
Problems are plenty for the number 1 Test team who have now lost two consecutive Overseas Test series. They have now lost six out of the last completed eight Tests overseas. On the plea of the Indian team to understand the conditions better the shorter formats were played before the Tests but however, the results did not turn out to be desirable.
Team India's last Overseas consignment for the year might well be the hardest. The Australian soil has been a nightmare for the Indian team. Besides South Africa, Australia is the only Overseas destination where India has failed to win a Test series.
However, this Test series may be the realistic chance to end the drought in Australian soil. The Australian team who is without the services of two-star batsmen are still picking up the pieces after the ball-tampering debacle.
However, the Australian pace battery might still make the life of Indian batsman miserable in the upcoming tour.
Let's have a look at the issues that the Indian team must address before the all-important Australian tour.
Problem in removing the tail
This is arguably one of India's finest pace attack equipped with the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ishant Sharma. Indeed, they performed well in South Africa and England and ran through the opposition's top order in both the series.
However, they could not leave the same impact against the lower order batsmen and gave too many runs to the lower order. As in the South African tour, lower order players like Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada provided cushions to AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis so that they could score runs freely. In England tour too, resistance from England's lower order proved pivotal for the other batsman to score freely. As a result, the scoring went on to become large.
Team India have an utterly bad habit of throwing the towel after having an upper hand in the match.