England vs India 2014: The blueprint that will deliver an end to India's overseas woes

Blokes like Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma have to be given a free license to go for their strokes, and garner runs at their own pace. Because when it comes to Dhawan and Rohit, it can be a catch-22 situation for themself and Team India, if they curb their natural, stroke-making ability, and start to leave deliveries outside off-stump. Dhawan, especially, is the kind of player Team India can either benefit from or, be the culprit to India’s progress.

When India had memorable tours of England in 2002 and 2007, it was Virender Sehwag, who got the team off to good starts on a consistent basis, and put the brakes on the rhythm of the England quickies in 2002, and in 2007 it was the turn of Dinesh Karthick to play the role of the aggressor, and render Wasim Jaffer the cushion to play at his own, enviable pace for Test cricket. Shikhar Dhawan for me, has to be used as the launch-pad from where Team India surge forward.

Shikhar Dhawan has to be aggressive at the top of the order

Now when it comes to bowling, things get a bit dicey. Can the aforementioned quartet of medium pacers keep the runs down, and chip away at the wickets? They better do. Bhuvneshwar Kumar should relish the conditions on offer, but the medium pacer from UP will be under pressure to start off well with the new ball for India. Taking Bhuvneshwar Kumar out of the equation, the other three medium pacers in Ishant, Shami, and Aaron are typically ‘into the pitch’ bowlers, and that’s where India can’t afford to leak runs from one end. But on the flip side of the coin, Shami and Ishant can render variety in the attack, and push the batsmen back on to their backfoot to keep them guessing. Bowling worries me because of the recent struggles Team India have endured, but good vibes and a different-looking English side, to the one that beat India 4-0 three years ago, should not pose much of a problem, you would think.

To sum things up,

The approach of Team India and MS Dhoni is what intrigues me, and I really hope that they would have learnt from their mistakes when it comes to picking the XI for 5-day cricket. India simply has to play 4 quickies to share the workload, and don’t forget that even if you play Jadeja alongside Ashwin, it would be goofy to ask 40 overs from them on day one of a Test match in England. And, that is the primary reason why 4 medium pacers will give you that balance, and more importantly act as a backup if things start to go wrong. MS Dhoni has to get rid of his penchant for using spinners in long spells in Test matches overseas, and being adamant in doing so.

Batting, I hope won’t let us down so badly as it did in 2011 when Rahul Dravid was the only one, who delegated India’s marauding batting line-up in every innings of the 4-match Test series. Coming back to action after a month long rest should keep Kohli, Dhawan, and Vijay fresh and hungry to go at it again. Aggressive batting is what I’d like to see from India against the likes of Anderson and Broad. You’ve got to show intent that you want to set the tone for the series, and bet you my life, if Indian batsmen start leaving deliveries more than they should, and give respect to Anderson and Broad, India would not be in a position to end the perennial jinx.

Not making any predictions for the series, but I have my fingers crossed for Team India’s resurgence in overseas Test matches after 3 years of getting bulldozed away deridingly.