Virat Kohli helped to spare the blushes of a few of his Indian top order colleges after India were reduced to 5-2 and then 44-3 by a 2nd string Essex attack at Chelmsford yesterday.

Matt Coles troubled the Indian top order early on the first morning. Source

Matt Coles was the man who did the early damage, removing Dhawan first ball and then Pujara for 1, both men caught behind by veteran keeper James Foster. Matt Coles will not be a household name to most Indian supporters or cricket lovers around the world but for a period 5 years ago he was seen as a real all-round prospect. However, his International ambitions were dealt a serious blow when he was sent home from an England Lions tour of Australia for 2 disciplinary breaches, which is another way of saying that he turned up to net sessions smelling of Fosters once too often for the coaches liking. Coincidentally, a young Ben Stokes was also sent home for similar reasons from that same Lions Tour -standard behaviour from England's vice-captain!

It was slow going for the Indian batsmen in the first hour of play as they looked to dig in against Essex's seam attack. Both Rahane and Vijay were dropped in the slips as Essex looked to press their advantage before Rahane then offered James Foster his 3rd catch of the morning this time off the bowling of Matt Quinn. It was noticeable that Virat Kohli decided to drop himself down the order to number 5, presumably he will bat at 4 in the Tests. Was he protecting himself from the new ball and if so was this the right way to prepare for the challenge that Broad and Anderson will be keen to give him?

Virat Kohli looked in good touch on his way to a half century albeit after Essex's openers had bowled their opening spells. Source

Whatever the reason the Indian captain joined Murali Vijay at the crease and the pair went about building a solid 90 run partnership to steady the innings. Both men will be somewhat disappointed to have reached 50 and then soon afterlost their wickets but you can imagine that with players of their class and experience they know that they have a couple more gears to go up in the Test series to come. As it was, both fell victim to burly left-armer Paul Walters who made a name for himself with Essex last year in the white ball format having been spotted playing local club cricket. 

As the pitch flattened out and whatever early swing melted away in the blistering heat which has come to dominate this English summer, the India batsmen began to play their shots. KL Rahul coming in at number 6, also made a breezy half century and Dinesh Karthik struck an unbeaten 82 from 94 balls against what must in reality be described as "buffet bowling". 
Of the Essex bowlers selected for this match Matt Quinn, Paul Walter and Matt Coles have played only 1 first class game each all season while Essex's slow bowling picks were all taken from the 2nd XI and youth sides. 

The match at Chelmsford which has already been shortened to 3 days, has lost it's first class status and has a relatively weak looking Essex bowling attack in particular. The question must remain, is this enough preparation for the Indian side as they head into a 5 Test series? 

For the likes of Dhawan, Kholi, KL Rahul and Karthik this is their first and last chance at getting some time in the middle to try and acclimatise to red ball conditions in this country. Yes, all of those players have played for India in at least some of the white ball games leading up to this series but the Test arena is likely to prove a very different challenge. 

To start with, white ball cricket anywhere in the world  sees little to no swing in matches except in the most extreme and helpful conditions. Using 2 balls has also negated any reverse swing that sides might have been able to bank on in previous eras. In essence, batsmen in the shorter format of the game, while having to deal with a variety of slower balls, knuckle balls, back of the hand deliveries, etc do not have to combat regulation swing in the vast majority of 50 and 20 over matches. 

The above graphic shows that since 2007, away swing has been more prominent in Tests played in England than any other country. Source

Add to this the fact that we in England use the Duke cricket ball which is renowned for swinging more and swinging for longer than the SG and Kookaburra equivalents used around the rest of the world and you could continue to make the argument that India still haven't given themselves sufficient time to prepare for what will be a very different challenge. 

The Duke ball on the right has a more prominent seam and darker colour leading it to swing more prominently than other balls used around the world 

The question of sufficient preparation for touring sides is one that occurs in almost all major Test series. Personally, I would to see a team like India being able to play at least a couple more games on top of this to allow themselves time to truly prepare. Equally for many of England's batsmen in particular, baring the round of county matches this week they have not had any red ball cricket for nearly 2 months and despite being used to the conditions they too need to recalibrate their game to meet the demands of a Test match. 

The lot of an international cricketer is much different these days but I will leave you with one final thought. In 1989, a touring Australian side that had won just 2 of it's previous 11 Tests came to England looking to overcome an English Test team that had dominated them for the best part of a decade. They played 8 full first class matches against proper county bowling attacks before the 1st Test started! Australia went on to win the series and regain the Ashes 4-0. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.