Some answers and more questions for India after warm-up

Ahead of the first Test of the five-match series, starting 1 August, the visitors got some answers about their line-up, but there were also a few questions that will need to be addressed quickly.

The opening conundrum
Murali Vijay and KL Rahul or Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan? While India like the right-left combination of the latter, Dhawan didn’t help his cause for inclusion with a pair in the match, done in by the moving ball.

Rahul, meanwhile, made a steady half-century in his first hit from the middle-order, and seemed set on 36 while opening in the second innings when the rain came.

Pressure on Pujara
Cheteshwar Pujara has spent the summer in England playing county cricket, but his returns haven’t been as impressive as he or India would have liked. In the first innings of the warm-up match, he made just 1, and while he showed better touch in the second with an unbeaten 23, there will be more expected of the India No.3.

His form is more of a concern given how unsettled the Indian top order is. After all, they were at 44/3 at one point.

The pacers’ form
Dale Steyn is among those who feel England’s pace attack will have the edge, but the Indians have reason to be quietly confident in their own fast bowling. Despite missing Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, they have considerable pedigree in Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami.

Sharma and Yadav picked up three and four wickets respectively, and were extremely economical. Sharma’s county stint at Sussex has prepared him for the Dukes ball, the weather conditions and the lengths required. He got to pick Jason Gillespie’s mind as well, so as the Australian great says, watch out for him.

Captain Kohli
Has Virat Kohli buried the ghosts of 2014? The India captain walked in to bat under pressure in the first innings, and stayed put to make a steady 68, which included 12 hits to the fence. He showed signs of being able to better tackle the moving ball, succeeding where other top-order batsmen failed.

Given his numbers in the limited-overs series, he’ll be going into the Tests with confidence intact.

Spin to win?
Much has been made of the hot, dry summer in England this year. Could this mean a larger role for the spinners?

Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav bowled only a combined 11 overs against Essex, all of them going for runs. The greenish surface was arguably not the friendliest for them, so India have little clarity on who their best spin option for the Tests would be.