Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Can India win abroad too?' that was published in Newsband

Can India win abroad too?

India scored an innings-and-36-run victory over England at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. Virat Kohli’s men secured an unassailable 3-0 lead with just the fifth and final Test remaining to be played. In its last 17 Tests, India remained undefeated, the highlight being 13 wins. The current winning streak includes five consecutive Test series triumphs: Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies, New Zealand and England have been vanquished.

The squad’s twin arms, Kohli and R. Ashwin, have worked in pulsating tandem. Kohli is poised to join the league of legends. He has led from the front. Ashwin, meanwhile, has powered India’s remarkable growth, with both ball and bat. The team’s glory is not just restricted to Kohli and Ashwin, the rest have all put their hands up at various times. Cheteshwar Pujara provided support to Kohli. Pujara is a kind of player who comes in and steadies the ship, sees off the new, seaming ball and makes it easier for other batsmen coming in. Jadeja has been instrumental with his extra-fast over finishing capability.

Now for India, overseas wins in Australia and England need to be secured. India must plan to defeat Australia, England and New Zealand away to be recognised fully as one of the best teams ever. India still needs to perform exceptionally well against the likes of England and Australia away from home.

While England have been quite poor, India have played very well indeed. In two of the three Tests India won, Kohli lost the toss and England batted first and used the pitch at its best. India have shown great spirit whenever they've been under pressure — they saved the first Test on the last day in Rajkot, and fought back from 204/6 to reach 417 and take a big lead in the third Test in Mohali. India’s batting has clicked, their spinners have been deadly, their pace bowlers have been very impressive. In an era when the top teams are dominant at home but less impressive in alien conditions, Kohli has the nucleus of a unit that has the potential to do well abroad too.

While congratulating the team for emphatic series win, one must not lose sight of the weakness persisting still. The problem of opening pair has not clicked since the great days of Gavaskar - Chauhan. The team could not find a reliable long-term medium pacer after Kapil Dev and fielding needs improvement. Series win overseas is still a mirage. Winning on home pitches is one thing but victory on pact pitches show the real test stamina and capabilities of a team