India vs Sri Lanka 2017: 5 lessons India should learn from Eden Test

From starting as overwhelming favourites to being pushed on to the backfoot, to once again signalling their intent, the first Test match at the Eden Gardens was nothing short of a roller-coaster ride for the Indian cricket team.

In many ways, the match was a great advert for Test cricket and offered the hosts a great opportunity to look at their fallacies and iron them out not only before the second Test, but also ahead of the upcoming South Africa series.

Here in this article, we take a look at five areas which the Indian team should work on before the Nagpur Test.

#5 Patience up front

Rahul holds the key at the top of the order

Opening the batting in Test cricket is perhaps the toughest job in the game. And if the openers walk out to a green wicket under cloudy skies, their job becomes all the more difficult, and this where the virtue of patience kicks in.

KL Rahul got a real snorter in the first innings; these are the perils associated with the job, but Dhawan did play a very loose stroke, a drive on the up away from his body, just the type of stroke coaches would cringe at on a lively track.

Vijay will walk out in Nagpur and perhaps this will lend a more purposeful and patient approach right at the beginning if India bat first again.

#4 Respecting the conditions

Form tactics according to the conditions

This Indian team have been successful in the recent past primarily because they have been able to adapt and adjust to different conditions and then forge their tactics accordingly.

However, on the first two days of the Eden Test, the batting was reckless and perhaps the batsmen did not pay heed to the rather challenging conditions on hand. They were lured into playing many false strokes which cost them dear.

If the management is to be believed, the pitches for the remaining two Test matches might also be green tracks and hence the approach of the top order will be under scrutiny, more so because, in South Africa, not only will the pitches be similar, but the bowling will also be of a greater pedigree.

#3 Seam bowling is an art in helpful conditions

Patience holds the key

"When we were watching how Sri Lanka were bowling, we were excited to bowl on that wicket. We tried too hard and could have stopped a few runs but the only thing we could have done is we could have been patient," Bhuvneshwar Kumar told reporters after India's bowling effort in the first innings.

Once again, the virtue of patience rears its head and it is applicable not only to the batsmen but also to the bowlers.

There is no denying the quality of the Indian bowling, but they will have to understand that setting up the batsmen and then getting their scalp is an art and merely bowling magic balls is not the way to pick up wickets.

#2 Approach of the spinners

He has to hold one end up

On green tracks, the role of the spinners becomes very restricted and this is where they will have to identify their modified roles in the scheme of things.

While the aggressors will be the faster bowlers, the spinners become a more restrictive tool and it could well be that Ravichandran Ashwin will be the sole spinner in Nagpur and hence India's most prolific wicket-taker over the past two years will have to hold one end up.

He has to make sure that the faster bowlers get adequate rest in between spells and that the pressure is not lifted at any point in time.

#1 Converting starts

Kohli was the lone century maker

On bowling friendly surfaces, it becomes imperative for batsmen to kick on after getting a good start, as it is always difficult to start an innings for a newcomer.

This is what the Indian batting failed to do in the first Test as many of the top order players did get solid starts but could not convert them into substantial triple-digit scores.

Had it not been for Virat Kohli's century in the second innings, the hosts could have been put under pressure. Hence, one of the biggest lessons which the Indian team should learn is that any batsman who gets in should put a price on his wicket and dig in for possibly a match-defining performance.