3 players who should but won't be dropped from Indian Test team

Virat Kohli's India has succumbed to yet another overseas defeat - a 4-1 loss to England in a five-Test series. This defeat at the hands of Englishmen has been worse than the one inflicted by South Africa earlier this year.

The problems were more or less the same - questionable team selections, batsmen failing to match up to the performance of their bowlers and failure to capitalize on situations where they had the upper hand in a match.

Head coach Ravi Shastri, before the last match, was of the opinion that this side is the best Indian side in overseas conditions in the last 15-20 years.

“Nothing to take away (from England), the endeavour of this team is to travel well, compete and win. If you look at the last three years, we have won nine matches overseas and three series. I can’t see any other Indian team in the last 15-20 years that has had the same run in such a short time, and you have had some great players playing in those series.”

Skipper Kohli echoed his coach's sentiments upon the conclusion of the fifth Test, which India lost by 118 runs.

With both the coach and the captain refusing to admit that Team India's performance, along with being commendable at stages, wasn't up to the mark if one looks at the larger picture, it looks certain that there won't be much chopping and changing when the team lines up for the next series.

On that note, we'll look at three players who deserve to be axed but, most probably, will continue to be a part of the Indian Test team.

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#1 Shikhar Dhawan

The southpaw is easily one of the best opening batsmen in the limited overs circuit. However, his repetitive selection in the Test side is baffling, to say the least. His last 10 Test innings read 16, 107, 26, 13, 35, 44,23, 17, 3 and 1. The one century came against newcomers Afghanistan in Bengaluru which supposedly earned him a place in the starting XIs for the England series.

Though he was dropped for the second Test, he was brought right back in for the third Test and played rest of the matches despite the fact that Prithvi Shaw was called in as the stand-by opener for last two matches of the series.

#2 Ajinkya Rahane

England v India: Specsavers 4th Test - Day Four

Once considered the best overseas batsman for India, Rahane's form has been disappointing of late. His last 50+ score in the Test circuit, before the England tour, came more than a year back in August 2017, a 132 against Sri Lanka in Colombo where India scored in excess of 600 runs in the first innings and bowled the hosts out twice.

In England, he was expected to be one of the leaders with the bat for India. However, he was only the fourth highest run-getter for the visitors - 257 runs in five matches at 25.70 and one half-century. With batsmen like Hanuma Vihari coming in and Karun Nair waiting in the wings, Rahane should definitely be given some time off.

#3 Hardik Pandya

England v India: Specsavers 4th Test - Day Three

One of the team management's favourites, Hardik Pandya hasn't been able to prove himself yet in the longest format of the sport. Though he did get his first-ever Test fifer in Nottingham, he only has five more to show from seven innings.

His tally with the bat wasn't impressive as well. Other than a half-century, which came just after his five-wicket haul in the first innings, he had scores of 22, 31, 11, 26, 18, 4 and 0. Pandya was deservedly dropped for the fifth Test and was replaced by Hanuma Vihari, who scored a half-century and picked three wickets as well.