The Indian squad will play a five-match Test series in England, marking the start of their World Test Championship (WTC) campaign in 2025-27. Though this will be a very youthful and inexperienced club, there is still a lot of skill on the team that can win games.
Touring England has always been a difficult task for the Indian team, but this time it comes during a period of significant transition within the Indian setup. The team is coming off consecutive series losses against New Zealand and Australia, therefore it is critical to address crucial areas for improvement if the squad is to not only start but also finish the WTC cycle on a positive note.
Here are 3 key issues India must fix to get their hands on WTC 2027
1. Avoid heavy reliance on star power
The Indian batting order was strongly centred around Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, but since the star duo has retired, a strong leadership unit is quintessential in boosting confidence within the side. With Shubman Gill as captain and Rishabh Pant being his deputy and the mainstay man behind the wickets during the field, some crucial decisions can help draw the game in the Indian team’s favour.
However, it is also extremely important to not be over-reliant on the leadership pack, since in a game of cricket, all of the eleven taking the field are responsible for win or loss. Thus, even the junior cricketers must take up the onus upon themselves and perform collectively as a unit to turn the results in their team’s favour.
2. Solve the KL Rahul conundrum
There is no doubt that KL Rahul is one of the most skilled batters within the Indian side. However, it is also important for a batter like him to have a fixed position in the side. Despite his decent performances across different positions, it is also important for the most experienced batter in the side to have a fixed position, which indeed is significant in stabilizing the batting unit.
The Karnataka batter, on some occasions, is seen at the top opening the batting and in some instances bats in the middle order. Currently, Rahul needs to bat in a fixed position going forward, where he can showcase his world-class talent and score plenty of runs for the team, which will be key to their chances in securing spot in the WTC Final 2027.
3. Build a strong and consistent bowling attack
The reason for the Indian team’s dominance in Test cricket was that the team had a strong pace-bowling core from 2016 to 2021. However, the last two WTC cycles saw a lot of chopping and changing within the bowling attack. The Australia series saw the team being heavily reliant on Jasprit Bumrah, who seemed to be the only Indian bowler who was threatening.
The injuries to veteran pacers like Mohammed Shami and bowlers moving in and out of the squad have caused a lot of problems. The spin attack might also face some problems with Ravichandran Ashwin’s retirement from red-ball cricket. While Ravindra Jadeja is in the last phase of his career, the team still looks indecisive on who their first-choice spinners will be in the future. Though there is a lot of talent department, the team still has to build a strong core, which seems to be missing.
India
