The team management problems that are hurting the Indian team overseas

6. Tour matches? But why?

Key points like Hardik's role in the team were unaddressed

The purpose of tour matches is for the entire team to get acclimatized to the foreign conditions and for the management to figure out the best combinations. It was a tradition that was religiously followed before delving into the actual series, until quite recently. One of the prime complaints against the coach Kumble was that he was too dominating in the dressing room setup.

Ravi Shastri is the polar opposite as he prioritizes the personal lives of the players to some extent. This definitely has a positive impact on a player's psyche and many in the dressing room found this as a welcome change. However, now this has started to make the players a little complacent and overconfident in their abilities.

Tour matches were entirely skipped in the tour of South Africa earlier this year and the ODI leg of the English tour. It was almost as if the management had everything figured it out beforehand. The decisions were a definite backfire as India lost both the series. Maybe this had prompted the management to approach the three-day practice match against Essex with some semblance of seriousness.

Still, the end result was the same, as none other than the captain showed a continued intent. Team India has moved on a bit from an MS Dhoni who did not skip the 2015 World Cup even for the birth of his child.

Some of these problems are trivial, and it would be a travesty to see them withhold the current test team from achieving a legendary status. The tour of England is now a lost opportunity, but with a tougher down-under chapter coming up, a few tweaks will go a long way in changing the fortunes of the team.