India vs England 2016: 5 causes of concern for Team India after the first test

Team India managed to hold on till stumps, after some nervy moments on the final day of the first test match against England at Rajkot, as the match ended in a draw. The Englishmen looked dominant throughout the game and looked the most likely to get a result out of the match but the Indians, after a mini-collapse in the final session, hung on.

It was a mixed performance from the World No.1 ranked test team, with the likes of Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara impressing while Amit Mishra and Gautam Gambhir failed to have any sort of impact on the game.

Here we take a look at five aspects from the game, that should be causes of concern for the home side ahead of the next game:

---

#5 Gautam Gambhir’s struggles against the Poms continue

A disappointed Gautam Gambhir walks off after being adjudged LBW in the first innings

Since 2011, before this test match, India’s opener Gautam Gambhir had played 9 Test Matches against the England side and had scored just 378 runs at an underwhelming average of 23.62, with two fifties and no centuries and a high score of 65. Poor numbers when compared to his overall career stats.

He did not do much to set it right in the first test at Rajkot though, as his struggles continued against the English attack. He was dismissed for 29 runs in the first innings and was out without troubling the scoreboard in the second.

He looked very scratchy during his short stay at the crease and his much-discussed about new open stance did not save him as he was caught plumb in front in the first innings by Stuart Broad. He was out playing at a delivery outside off stump off Chris Woakes’ bowling, the second time around, leaving his team under pressure trying to save the game.

Gambhir has deserved his opportunity in the side after a string of impressive domestic performances, but with the likes of KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan set to return to full fitness soon, he needs to step up a notch and make full use of these chances he has got in the playing XI.

#4 Middle order needs to perform more consistently

A dejected Ajinkya Rahane walks off after being dismissed by Zafar Ansari (Courtesy: Bcci.tv)

Throughout the series against New Zealand, which India won comfortably 3-0, except in the third test match, there were middle order collapses that occurred quite frequently for the home team.

And the trend continued at Rajkot, as India, in the first innings lost 5 wickets for just 148 runs, falling to 425/7 from being 277/2 at one stage, on what seemed to be a decent batting track. If not for some rearguard action by R Ashwin, Team India might have conceded a much bigger first innings lead to the visitors.

In the second innings, again, albeit on a deteriorating day five track, Team India were left in a precarious position as the middle order failed to click again, leaving them at 132 for 6 with the match on the line and if not for captain Virat Kohli and hometown boy Ravindra Jadeja, the result might have been much different.

Indian middle order is studded with star batsmen like Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and captain Kohli himself, and if India are to continue dominating the test match scene, the middle order needs to perform more consistently and these mini-collapses need to be avoided.

#3 Amit Mishra disappoints on return to Test team

Amit Mishra had a frustrating outing in the first test at Rajkot (Courtesy: Bcci.tv)

Amit Mishra came into the match on a high, after a man of the series performance in the ODI series against New Zealand. He had done well in the past in the limited opportunities he had got in the test team, and must have been relishing his chance to bowl against an English batting line-up that looked at sea against spin in Bangladesh.

But it did not go as planned for the leggie as he struggled to have any kind of impact on the game. The English batters targeted him in their first innings, not allowing him the opportunity to settle and get into a rhythm. It was a below-par performance by Mishra in the first innings, yielding him just one scalp in 23 overs, in which he conceded runs at an economy of more than 4 runs per over.

It was the same story in the second innings as well, as the likes of Alastair Cook and debutant Haseeb Hameed took a liking to Mishra’s gentle leg-spinners. He finished the second innings conceding 60 runs in 13 overs at 4.61 runs per over, very high for a test match.

However, he did manage to pick two wickets out of the three that fell, but in an overall sense, it was a disappointing game for the 33-year old and it will be interesting to see if he retains his place for the next game at Vizag.

#2 Indian spinners outdone by their English counterparts

Adil Rashid looked threatening with the ball at Rajkot (Courtesy: Bcci.tv)

Before the series, the talk was all about how the Indian spinners were going to tear this English batting line-up apart, how the likes of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were going to walk all over the English batsmen.

But come the end of the first test match, the English spinners that are the talk of the town, as the trio of Moeen Ali, Zafar Ansari and Adil Rashid were very good on a good pitch at Rajkot. The English spinners accounted for 13 dismissals among them in the match, whereas the Indian spin attack of Ashwin, Jadeja and Mishra managed to pick up 9 wickets between them.

Adil Rashid was the stand-out performer as he managed to trouble the Indian batters with his turn and bounce. His variations were also hard to read for the home team as he finished the match with 7 wickets, his best performance for the Three Lions till date.

On the other hand, the English batsmen looked hardly troubled by the Indian spinners. There were occasions on which they looked uncomfortable, but those moments were not as frequent as one would have expected coming into this match. They looked to attack the Indian trio from the outset and were largely successful in their endeavours.

The track at Vizag, the venue for the second test, is expected to be much more spin-friendly than at Rajkot, and it will be interesting how the English batsmen will counter the Indian spin threat over there. But based on this show, the English spinners will pose a serious challenge to the Indians as well.

As for now, it is English spinners 1, Indian spinners 0.

#1 Team India undone by poor fielding

The main culprits of the dropped chances for Team India (Courtesy: Bcci.tv)

There is no doubt that this Indian team is one of the best fielding units in the world currently. With some excellent fielders like Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja and captain Virat Kohli to name a few, they can be absolutely electric on the field.

But the fielding department proved to be their undoing in the first test at Rajkot, with a series of dropped catches coming back to haunt them, as they managed to drag the match to a draw.

There were three dropped catches in the first 30 minutes of play on day one, as Ajinkya Rahane grassed a straightforward chance at gully off Alastair Cook’s outside edge in the first over of the match itself, followed by Virat Kohli letting captain Cook off the hook at second slip, after which Murali Vijay was generous enough to give debutant Haseeb Hameed a second chance after dropping a sitter at first slip.

All the good work done by pacers Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav was reaping no rewards.

All-rounder Ben Stokes was the luckiest of them all, as he was afforded two lives by wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha, who dropped easy chances to remove Stokes twice in the space of two overs, both off the bowling of Umesh Yadav. The Durham all-rounder made the most of the lives given to him, as he smashed a century, helping England amass a huge first innings score.

Rahane also dropped a sharp chance off Mishra at leg gully handing Stuart Broad, who was playing his 100^th test match, a life.

It was a poor outing for the No.1 Test team in the field, and one might be left wondering as to what the outcome of the match would have been, had the fielders held on to the chances.