West Indies vs India 2016: 5 keys to success for India
After the two warm-up matches, it seems as if the Indian management is confronted with a lot of decisions to make. For starters, the team combination will be up for debate as all the players looked in good nick during the warm-up matches and also in the first net session in Antigua. By the look of things, Kohli will go in with 5 bowling options, which is an attacking option on pitches where the bowlers will not blast the opposition out.
Ravichandran Ashwin has already said that he does not mind being labelled boring as long as he sticks to his plans and delivers for the team. The pitches in the Caribbean are sluggish and often does not have the zip needed to trouble the batsmen, and thus patience will have to be way forward.
The Indian squad seems to have all the bases covered, and thus it will be critical to identify the strengths and build on it accordingly.
Here we take a look at 5 keys to success for India during this tour:
#1 Opening partnership
The new ball spell is one of the most important phases during any test match, and thus it becomes imperative that the openers put their head down and see off the shine of the red cherry. This will set a brilliant platform for the middle order who can then accumulate runs when the going gets a lot easier.
And this is where India have been struggling in the recent past. While Murali Vijay has been a like a rock at the top of the order, his partners have not been quite the same. Shikhar Dhawan has been struggling to get going for quite some time now, and even KL Rahul has not been very consistent.
This is one area which needs attention and fine tuning before the first Test match, as the middle order should ideally not be exposed to the new ball.