India vs England: Positives and Negatives for Team India from first test

New Delhi: Team India and England both were in winning position in the first Investec test at Trent Bridge, but unfortunately it ended with a draw after England dominated the last two days. Astonishing performances by the tailenders of both teams were certainly the USP of the game. Before this series, India had its worst foreign record in past one year of cricket while England were recently humiliated by Sri Lanka in ODI and test series. The new look and less experienced Team India is looking forward to avenge the 0-4 clean sweep by England when India toured England in 2011. They were able to cross the 300 run mark just once in the entire four-Test series. This time, India crossed the same in both the innings with an impressive all round performance by Mohammad Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Stuart Binny. But at the same time, poor middle order and lack of consistency in bowling is a matter of concern for Team India. They were much ahead of England till third day but England took the game away from India after a record 10th wicket partnership between Joe Root and James Anderson.India TV points out some positives and negatives for Team India to look forward:Positive: Murali Vijay dominated as an openerHe is probably the most criticized inclusion in Team India for England tour. He did not performed in IPL 7 though had a decent domestic season; however he still managed to get selected for this tour. With a century in first innings and a half century in second, he answered all the questions over his selected in the playing 11 over Gautam Gambhir. Murali Vijay's ton was a perfect merger of resilience and determination as he notched his first century outside India and fourth of his career. He jumped up 12 places to 30th in the latest ICC Test rankings issued on MondayNegative: Poor middle orderIndian openers are batting well and so are their tailenders, but what would worry skipper Dhoni is the performance of the middle order. Pujara, Kohli and Rahane were not able to live up to the expectations. In the second innings from 140/2, India went down to 184/6 and on the verge of losing the test but later Binny and Kumar took India to a safe position. However Pujara still managed to grab the eighth spot in latest ICC test rankings and the only Indian in top 10 batsmen. It would be naive to except the lower order to repeat the same performance with the bat on seaming wickets.Positive: Lower order battingThe best outcome for India in this match! What Kohli, Pujara and Rahane could not do, was done by the lower order of Indian batting line up including Shami, Bhuvneshwar and Binny. The abilities finally reflected at Trent Bridge as Bhuvi steered the Indian innings to safety on both occasions. Meanwhile, Mohammed Shami too showed his skill and Ishant Sharma has the ability to hang around. It's a positive sign if India happen to find themselves in a similar stiff position ahead.Negative: out of form ViratVirat Kohli who was the lone star for India in New Zealand and South Africa last year, was unable to bat in the first test. 1 in first innings and 8 in second, a total of 9 runs is not the kind of performance which was expected from him. Even Ishant Sharma, Shami and Kumar have a better total than him. After first test, he moved down three positions to 13th in the test rankings. He is the main strength of the middle order and will be holding huge responsibility at Lord's for the second test starting on 17th July. Positive: Bhuvneshwar and Stuart Binny shaping up as all-roundersBhuvneshwar Kumar is effectively progressing with every passing match and his valiant effort in the first test with both bat and ball saw him become only the 16th player to score two fifties in a Test with a 5-wicket haul. He played a valuable knock of 58 in the 1st innings showing his caliber to stay on a wicket and not only hang around but score as well. Done with batting he returned to his original job and bowled well to keep England batsmen tied down and claimed five-wicket haul on a wicket which had almost nothing for seamers. Bhuvi again found himself in the middle with bat and continued exhibiting his skills with the willow, notching another half-century. He remained unbeaten on 63 off 138 balls again showing his willingness to spent time in the middle.Binny's selection for the Lord's Test was uncertain. But he forced his way in to the XI with a match-saving effort of 78 from 114 balls. The 281st debutant got little opportunity to make a difference in the match being ignored with the ball by the skipper. It came down to the last day and Binny's composed innings made the difference. Now the dilemma for Dhoni would be inclusion of Ravichandran Ashwin for Lord's test.A 91 run stand between the two in the second innings saved the test match for India. Bhuvi also breaks into the top 50 for the first time in his career. He now sits in 46th spot after jumping 27 places. In the all-rounders' list, India's Ravindra Jadeja retained his number two position.Negative: Dhoni struggling with swing deliveriesIndian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni looked in good touch with the bat in the first innings but he failed to score in the second innings. In both the innings, Dhoni was troubled by the English bowlers and their swing bowling. He also survived a couple of outside edges in the match and was seen struggling with the movement of the ball. Liam Plunkett bowled him out in the second innings with an in swing delivery. He was not able to judge that and the ball crashes onto the stumps through the gap between bat and pad. Positive: New look bowling line upWith only Ishant Sharma having the experience of bowling in England pitches, everyone had the same concern that how much England's batting can pummel Indian pacers? But with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami, he took the full advantage of not so good bowling conditions. All the 10 England wickets were shared by this trio. Bhuvi's five were accompanied by Ishant's three and Shami's two. Dhoni would be in a big dilemma at Lord's that whom he should exclude to bring in Ashwin. However, the only thing of concern is the consistency. From 202/7 England still managed to score 496 in the first innings.