India in England: Missing quality support system

Since January 2015, India won 23 Test matches overseas including 11 in South Africa, England and Australia. It was during this period that India defeated Australia twice Down Under to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for more than nine years.

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The trophy might have been lost now as India went down 1-3 in their recent visit to Australia but it began well when the visitors defeated the hosts by 295 runs in the series opener at Perth in November.

Stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah was the architect of the famous win as he claimed a five-fer in the first innings and followed it up with a three-wicket haul in the next. He was rightly adjudged the player of the match for his brilliant bowling but the speedster was well complemented by fellow Indian bowlers to help India beat Pat Cummins and Co.

The recent loss at Headingley in Leeds against hosts England in the five-match Test series, however, presented a sorry state of affairs — India's overdependence on the Gujarat pacer — the issue that needs immediate attention. The slinger was at his best with a five-wicket spell as India managed a slender but six-run first innings lead in the match. Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna too chipped in with two and three wickets respectively but went for plenty of runs, opening doors for England batters to cut down the lead.