Indian cricketers walk back after their victory on the second day of one-off India Vs Afghanistan Test match at The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on June 15, 2018. | (File | AFP)

England vs India Test Series: Strategical challenges await Virat Kohli's men as they take on Joe Root and Co

India will be looking to register their first Test series win in eleven years in the United Kingdom, whereas England will be aiming to break their barren run since December.

The limited overs leg between England and India lived up to its expectations, as Eoin Morgan's side came back from a 1-2 T20 series defeat against India by winning the ODIs.

As the action now shifts in the longest format, India will be looking to win their second Test series in eleven years in England. The Englishmen, on the other hand, have been going through a barren run since December last year, with drubbings against Australia, New Zealand and Pakistan.

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Meanwhile, India will be without their premier pacers Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah for the first three of the five-match Test series. England lacks depth in the spin department, along
with batters' inconsistency.

As India looks on to build from the positives of their 1-2 Test series loss against South Africa earlier this year, to repeat the 2007 feat, here are a few strategical roadblocks which need to be addressed:

Need to counter the Broad-Anderson threat with top order amends

The swing duo of Stuart Broad and James Anderson was pivotal to England's 2011 and 2014 home series victories against India. While they will be again looking to exploit India's weakness against swing, Kohli's men will be hoping to take their innings deep enough. This will ensure that the English brigade brings into play their inexperienced third pacers and spinners.

England's James Anderson and Stuart Broad (File | AP)

Opener Murali Vijay (India's most successful batsman during 2014 tour (402 runs from 10 innings) and number three Cheteshwar Pujara (A seasoned County player) will be taking on England's swing barrage in the first few hours of the Indian innings.

The visitors will also want to replace the other opener Shikhar Dhawan with KL Rahul. Dhawan's lack of patience and poor technique, coupled with his two ducks in the warm-up game against Essex, can hamper the left-hander's selection chances. Rahul's fighting fifty in the same game showed that he is up for the task.

Indian pace battery needs to forget Bumrah-Bhuvi's absence

The only silver-lining of India's 1-2 Test series defeat in South Africa was the way fast bowlers kept the Proteas batsmen silent (allowing them to cross 300-run mark only once in six innings). While Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar effected 24 of 60 Proteas dismissals, Mohammed Shami ended up as the series' joint highest wicket-taker with 15 dismissals.

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Kumar, the third highest wicket-taker during 2014 series (19 scalps in five matches), will be missing the
first three Tests with an aggravated back injury. Whereas Bumrah may fully recover from his hand injury by the end of the second Test.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar (File | AP)

In their absence, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma will be the visitors' bowling leaders. The duo recently grabbed eight wickets in India's 262-run innings victory against Afghanistan last month.

As Shami coming back after a long layoff, the pace unit needs to quickly adjust with the conditions. While Ishant (who took 14 wickets in three Tests four years back), has the County cricket experience in his advantage, Umesh needs to stay accurate, while maintaining the balance between pace and swing while bowling longer spells.

Handy contributions from Wicketkeeper-batsman

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After MS Dhoni's Test retirement in 2014 December, lack of batting contributions from wicketkeepers has played an important role in India's poor overseas records. During the South Africa tour, failures from both Wriddhiman Saha and Parthiv Patel exposed the tail-enders in front of rampant Proteas pacers.

This Test series will see a change of personnel behind the stumps. Dinesh Karthik earned another comeback call due to his brilliant domestic form, with youngster Rishabh Pant being his standby.

Dinesh Karthik (File | PTI)

Karthik also has a good memory with English conditions, as he made 263 runs in six innings as an opener during the 2007 tour. India's historic Test series victory against Michael Vaughn's side that year was also possible because of Dhoni's consistency with the bat (209 runs in five innings at an average of 52.25). If India is looking for huge first innings totals in all the five matches, Karthik needs to repeat the Dhoni chapter.

Making the tough choice between pace and spin for the fifth bowler's spot:

The highlight of India's limited-overs leg against England was Chinaman spinner Kuldeep Yadav's 14 wickets in two T20s and three ODIs against the home side's explosive batting. Despite Eoin Morgan and co. uncovering the wrist spinner's mystery, Kuldeep finished as the visitors' most successful bowler.

Ravichandran Ashwin (File | AP)

Now the five-Test match series, taking place during the second half of the UK summer, may see drier surfaces with heatwave around. This may tempt India to play an extra spinner, along with offie Ravichandran Ashwin.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya looks like a default number seven as a third pacer, but there is a spot open for the fifth bowler's choice. If India goes for a second spinner, Kuldeep may get an upper hand over Ravindra Jadeja, despite the latter's batting abilities.

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In case, the team management wants an extra pacer, then Shami will get a go-ahead. How Kohli and co. address this selection dilemma will determine the series' future.

Keeping both Joe Root and Alastair Cook silent:

England will go into the Test series in the back of an Ashes whitewash down under, followed by a 0-1 series loss in New Zealand and 1-1 draw against Pakistan at home. The common thing in all these series was poor batting, with a 58 all-out being the lowest point for Joe Root's side.

Kohli and co. will be fancying their chances for a first Test series win in the UK in eleven years, the home side will again look towards veteran opener Alastair Cook to shine against Ishant and co.

Joe Root and Alastair Cook (File | AFP)

Despite the former England skipper has an enviable record against the Indians (2104 runs in 25 matches, with an average of 50.09), he has been facing troubled footwork around the off-stump region off late.

In absence of their swing lynchpin Bhuvi for the first half of the series, the Indian pace battery will need to hit the right areas consistently to keep the left-hander silent.

The challenge will only mount, going by England captain Joe Root's recent form (216 runs in ODI series), as he will be looking to revive the Test batting rivalry against his Indian counterpart Virat Kohli.