India vs England 2021: 3 player battles to watch out for

Fans are set to witness an epic clash of the titans as India take on England in a five-match series starting August 4 (Wednesday).

The skirmish between the two sides marks the start of the second World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. The visitors will be keen to make amends for the loss against the Kiwis in the World Test Championship (WTC) final that concluded recently.

That said, the series also promises plenty of cracking action and is a test of India's batting against England's bowling.

Ahead of the start of the much-awaited encounter between the two sides, we take a look at the key player battles between both these two heavyweights.

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#1 Virat Kohli vs James Anderson

Kohli and Anderson have highlighted epic rivalries in the series in the past. After the 2014 disaster for the Indian skipper, he has had the better of Anderson in the series in 2016 and 2018.

This time, the conditions favor the veteran bowler and he will be keen to have Kohli packing pretty early in the innings.

Anderson has dismissed Kohli five times in their encounters so far.

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#2 Root vs Ravindra Jadeja- India's premium all-rounder

Root has fallen prey to Jadeja's guile quite a few times, five to be precise. The Saurashtra tweaker's nagging line and the ball that drifts onto the pads or sometimes zips in has had Root castled.

This has seen Jadeja gain some success against the England skipper and India will look to the spinner to stop the Root juggernaut.

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#3 Ajinkya Rahane vs Stuart Broad

Stuart Broad has had the better of India's vice-captain six times in their encounters. He's had him caught behind, miscuing and edging deliveries and will look to use his deceptive pace to bamboozle Rahane.

For the Mumbai batsman, this Test is also a chance to resurrect his flailing career in the longer format of the game.

A couple of good knocks is just what he needs to push his case for an extended run in a side that has competition knocking on the door constantly.