India's bowling weakness outside the subcontinent

   

After three Tests in England, India's bowlers have conceded 43.4 runs per wicket. They have won a Test match. Their best bowler, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, relies on control rather than pace and has taken 15 wickets at 23 apiece. Ishant Sharma, who turned in a match-winning performance in the second innings at Lord's, has ten wickets at 28.5. He has been mercurial as ever. His 7 for 74 at Lord's sits alongside two other innings, at Lord's and Trent Bridge, in which he conceded 3 for 211 in 62 overs. Until he dismissed Ian Bell in the 30th over of England's second innings at Lord's, Ishant had gone wicketless for 52 consecutive overs. India's spinner, Ravindra Jadeja, has bowled more overs than any other Indian bowler. He has eight wickets at 48 runs apiece. His wickets have come at the rate of one every 18 overs. Mohammed Shami has taken the new ball for India in this series. He has been hammered, by Test match standards, conceding 366 runs in 96 overs of bowling. His five wickets have cost 73 apiece, and it has taken him 19 overs of bowling to take each.

The Indian attack that started the Southampton Test - Bhuvneshwar, Shami and Jadeja (with Pankaj Singh at 0) - had taken 90 Test wickets between them. This has been a pattern in India's overseas bowling performances in recent years.