Well, since the end of the great SA side, Pakistan had fared ok under Misbah in away tests before it all came to an end losing to NZ (the first time in 30 years I believe) and Aus (to be expected). England too, have found a bit of hope away, in beating SA, which should not be overlooked but yes, in general terms, the likes of the Windies, the Aussies and the SA teams that won consistently away, no longer exist.
A major problem is that the quality of players just isn't there. SA had at times a prime Steyn and morkel, complimented by Pollock and later Philander. They also had a behemoth batting unit with Smith, Amla, ABD, Kallis and co. Aus and Windies were even better. Pakistan in the 80s with their ability to win in Asia and outside of it were built on the back of gutsy batsmen like Miandad and Khan, and tremendous fast bowling...Khan's name pops up again.
That quality is not present right now, or for the last couple of years to be exact. This Aus side might develop with Starc just hitting his peak, Hazlewood following suit and the batting unit hopefully maturing. SA will be losing Amla and ABD in the coming years and I don't see who can replace them. England need a more well rounded bowling attack and Pakistan have a massive rebuilding job on their hands.
The question remains on India, who have never been the best tourists but can a batting unit of Kohli, Pujara, Rahul and co put on enough runs against the tired Steyn and Morkel? Can their bowlers finally back up the runs? This series will tell us a lot on whether or not India finally have a team that can create a test dynasty.
), but lots of unanswered questions about the batting lineup. Not convinced they are significantly better than 2014 yet, but it is true that their main players are still quite young or in their prime.
