Key issues Indian Test team needs to address

#3 Resolving the Opening Conundrum

One of the foremost reasons why Indian teams of the 2000s used to do well in their overseas sojourn was due to their openers blunting out the new ball and setting a platform for their famed middle order to take the game forward. Whether it was Sanjay Bangar (68 off 268 balls at Leeds, 2002), Virender Sehwag's aggression (195 at the McG, 2003), Akash Chopra's resilience down under in 2003-04 or even the Murali Vijay on India's previous overseas trips, the openers always weathered the early storm.

Series Stats-

Murali Vijay:-

Matches: 3, Innings: 6, Runs: 102, Avg: 17, 50s/100s: 0/0

Shikhar Dhawan:-

Matches: 1, Innings: 2, Runs: 32, Avg: 16.00, 50s/100s: 0/0

KL Rahul:-

Matches: 2, Innings: 4, Runs: 45, Avg: 11.25, 50s/100s: 0/0

Unfortunately, on this trip to the rainbow nation, India's middle order found themselves facing the music in the first ten overs pretty much every innings. Shikhar Dhawan, not having any trust in his technique played bizarre shots in both the innings, raising further questions on his credentials as an overseas opener. India needs to take a decision on whether they see Dhawan(who averages 27.81 in 22 innings) in their overseas plans, as they can't keep bringing him back based on his returns in Asia and plummet KL Rahul's confidence to a new low, which was evident in his performance in the last two Tests.

The success of Murali Vijay on his previous overseas stints was essentially built on his patience for balls around the fourth and fifth stump, a practice he didn't adhere to in the first five innings of the series. He showed a glimpse of it in the final innings, something India would desperately want on a more consistent basis in the next set of overseas tours.