'Summer of 36': Yet another wake up call for Indian Test cricket?

From a position of strength to being decimated in an hour, Indian team hit the abyss.

36 all out and all over in a couple of hours. It is certainly depressing but in my view, it was an accident waiting to happen, though the severity and the timing of it has taken me aback quite a bit.

Over the years India has performed poorly in overseas Tests, particularly in South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia (SENA), the exception being 2018-19 in Australia where India won the series against an Australia side who were sans Steve Smith and David Warner).

So we need to view that as an aberration and not a trend change.

The good thing that has happened in Indian Test cricket is the strengthening of the pace attack (we always had good spin resources) and now it is a balanced potent attack that we possess. We are a better fielding side now, barring the recent setbacks.

We need to appreciate the administration for addressing these issues. However, what has let India down has been their poor batting performance under swinging and seaming conditions where the Indian bowlers have done their job while batsmen have let them down – and not to forget poor catching in Tests off late.

Batting first – The way we built our pace attack, we need to address our batting woes as well.

The team total has not gone beyond 250 in the last seven overseas innings in run up to this debacle.

Barring Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara, no one seems capable of scoring meaningful runs. Opening has been a challenge and in my view both Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal have technical issues that can be easily exploited by the opposition.

This puts more pressure on Pujara and Kohli.

Ajinkya Rahane – for someone who is primarily into Test cricket, should have performed much better. Hanuma Vihari is a defensive player with limited abilities, not sure how he can prove useful. Then we have wicket keeper Wriddhiman Saha who is good at keeping but what about runs? Not even 10!

I am not sure if India can bounce back from here but it is important that batting woes are addressed on SOS basis, from within the existing squad.

How low can India go? (Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)

My suggestions are as below:

Give Shubman Gill a chance to open in the next three Tests.

I feel Ravi Jadeja at No.6 is a better bet, no matter what the conditions are instead of Hanuma Vihari.

Get KL Rahul at No.4 in the absence of Virat Kohli.

Mayank Agarwal can be given one more chance but should he fail, bring back Vihari as an opener.

Rishabh Pant to replace Saha until you find a long term solution on both.

These are interim measures to steady the ship. After this series, India will be back to playing at home with Virat back and mind you England are a very strong side, capable of beating India at home.

From a long-term perspective, we need a far more professional set up in terms of coaching staff for the team across formats in terms of batting, bowling, fielding and fitness. We need people who can own up!

Youngsters like Dev Padikkal, Yashaswi Jaiswal and Rituraj Gaikwad to name a few, have good techniques and can become very good Test players provided they are groomed and trained for tough conditions under the watchful eyes of people like Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxmann, Anil Kumble etc.

Preserve them and pay them for not playing IPL. Not everyone can be Virat Kohli, someone who can do well in all formats.

Test cricket in my view is the epitome of pride and purity for a cricketer and a cricket-playing nation. We need Test cricket to not just survive but thrive. So much of money and resources are spent by franchises to identify talents for IPL.

The BCCI is paying players better for Tests but it would help if BCCI can take measures to find good Test talent and invest on select players for a better future of Indian batting in Tests.

I don’t see why we cannot and if we do, don’t see why we cannot be victorious in bowler friendly conditions in overseas tours. It is a long process but let’s kick start it now.