INDIA TOUR OF ENGLAND, 2018

More clarity, less rejig vital in India's quest for turnaround

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Can India's decision-makers provide clarity?
Can India's decision-makers provide clarity? © Getty

Just a week after an inspiring performance at Edgbaston, the Indian cricket team evoked the harsh memories of their disappointing tours of 2014 and 2011 with a shattering display at Lord's.

In a game marred by rain, the Test may have stretched to day 4, but England were able to send the Indians crashing in just 170.3 overs. In that span, England batted once - for 88.1 overs - and smashed 396 runs for 7 wickets, while India batted twice and succumbed for 107 and 130, playing 35.2 and 47 overs respectively.

It showed how despairingly off the mark India were as a team. For the first time in five games, they failed to bowl a team out. For the first time since the Port of Spain game in 2016, when only 22 overs were possible in the entire Test, have India failed to dismiss an opposition at least once. For the first time since their last tour of England has India succumbed to an innings loss.

No wonder it brings back those harsh memories then. And as it has been in overseas conditions of late, it's the batsmen once again who find themselves out of depth. It was always going to be immensely tough to come out on top against the likes of James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and Sam Curran, let alone when they are all looking in top form and hunting as a pack. But to yield twice without showing a semblance of a fight would what hurt the team the most.

"No one's doing anyone a favour by going out there and performing," was Kohli's scathing review at the end. "It's our job to do that and it's a duty we've been given. We've been selected to play for the country. What we did in this game - we should definitely be better than that."

"We need to get more confident and get ahead of the mistake and not repeat it again. That's our immediate focus heading into the next game. We're certainly not thinking of anything else but going 2-1 up in the series and building on that strongly," he said.

But have India really identified their mistakes?

They went in with two spinners in conditions that were screaming for seamers. Their opening combination is in a constant state of confusion, while only Virat Kohli seems to have a fixed role, and place in the middle order. Their bowling too attracts more than one question. Ravindra Jadeja suddenly finds himself on the fringes despite not long ago being the best all-rounder in the world. Hardik Pandya suddenly finds himself above the likes of Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur as the team's third seamer.

On top of this, there is the constant debate between showing more intensity and being true to one's game, and chopping and changing of positions in the batting order. And reports of mismanagement of players and injuries suffered as a consequence. How does a team realise one's mistakes if it's not even sure what the mistakes are?

For a while now, India have managed to get away thanks to some great performances at home and in the subcontinent. But in the middle of what could be their toughest challenge in recent times, the scabs are coming off the wounds. And India have some real low-quality bandages to try and wrap them up.

Kohli still begs to differ. He has always willed his game on pushing for the win, and he's showing that he's willing to make short-term sacrifices to get there.

"Any chances given to the guys at any position, they have to make sure that they step up and grab them. Right now, it's not purely thinking that the openers haven't fired or the middle order hasn't done well, because as a batting unit, we haven't done well in this game as a whole.

"It's very difficult to pinpoint one area. All we have to do is gear up for the next game, come out positive and not think about that I've done well, or the openers or the middle order has done well or not. It's all about making the team win, and doing anything that we can to make that happen."

It might be easy to say that batsmen need to be clear in their heads in order to succeed in England. It's a whole different matter when players' spots and roles keep changing. Shikhar Dhawan was trusted as the opener in the first game but dropped despite scoring more than Vijay and KL Rahul. The latter, playing his first Test in England, was playing at an uncustomary No.3. Pujara, who was India's best batsman in the second Test, was out for the first. While Rahane, the vice-captain, was dropped from the side earlier this year in South Africa.

If the batsmen are able to overcome these and still come out with a clear mind to play in England, then they deserve a hat tip. But that would also make them robots.

"If a batsman is clear in the head and he's clear about the plans he's taking, then if the ball does something off the pitch, you're able to counter it. As a batsman, as I said, I've experienced in the past if my head's clouded then I feel like the ball can do this, or that, or even that. You know there are three-four scenarios that run in your head. It sounds cliched, but as the greats have said, keep this game simple, that's all you have to do," Kohli said.

Maybe it's time the management makes it simple too. That could make it easier for the batsmen to succeed too.

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