England vs India, 2018: 4 players who could make a difference in the ODI series

India play against England in a 3-match ODI series starting on July 12, 2018. Having developed a talented squad which is capable of beating any big side in their own backyard, the current Indian side is strong in all three departments i.e. batting, bowling, and fielding.

Having beaten the South African side at their home in the ODI series by 5-1 this year, the Indian team will have the confidence and the belief that they can beat England at their own home. England too have a formidable line-up and are extremely good. They have all the ingredients which a good batting side should have. Further, their pace attack is also fully capable of ruffling the feathers of the Indian batsmen.

Probably the two favorite sides to win the 2019 World Cup in England, it will be an interesting and entertaining contest between these two sides. Let us look at 4 Indian players whose performances could help India win the ODI series in England.

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#4 Yuzvendra Chahal

Chahal is a hard-working and dedicated bowler who is deadly, accurate and a miser. He is a leg-break bowler and has a googly as his variation which doesn't turn that much. Being an economical bowler, he is quite patient in his approach and hence makes the batsmen commit mistakes under pressure.

Having made his ODI debut against Zimbabwe on 11 June 2016, Chahal has picked up 43 wickets in 23 matches at an average of 21.83 in ODI's. His best bowling figures of 5/22 in ODIs were against South Africa at the Centurion.

The English batsmen will have to negotiate his bowling with a cool head and not do anything silly. They should try to rotate the strike and look for the odd boundary during his spell. Having got his best figures of 6/25 against England in T20s, the English batsmen will have to treat Chahal with caution.

#3 Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya is a talented all-rounder who has the rare ability to provide something for the team in almost every match. Being regarded as a finisher, Pandya has the ability to hit the ball out of the park. His ferocity against spin-bowling, excellent fielding skills and the ability to bowl 10 overs in ODIs make him an indispensable asset for any team.

He has scored 628 runs in 38 matches at an average of 29.90 and has picked up 39 wickets in ODIs. Having been picked for the ODI series in England, India will expect Hardik Pandya to clear the ground during the death overs and extract bounce from the wicket with his pace of above 140 kph. It will not be a bad idea to promote him up the order as he has proved in earlier games that he can play a long innings.

Having scored the fastest fifty (off 32 balls) in any ICC competition at the Oval in the 2017 Champions trophy final against Pakistan in England, Hardik Pandya will be quite familiar with the conditions and hence England bowlers like Plunkett and Willey will have to be careful against Pandya.

#2 Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav is a left-arm chinaman who gives the ball a lot of flight and has subtle variations in his armory. He is only the third Indian bowler after Chetan Sharma and Kapil Dev to pick up a hat-trick in ODI cricket for India.

Being extremely good at bowling the traditional leg-break and the googly, Kuldeep's variations are very difficult for the opposition to pick. Having made his ODI debut against the West Indies on 23 June 2017, Kuldeep has picked up 38 wickets in 19 matches at an average of 19.21.

His spin-bowling partnership with Chahal has proved to be very effective for India. In England, Chahal will pile up the pressure from one end and from the other, Kuldeep with deceptive variations will create trouble for the English batsmen. Kuldeep will probably be the X-factor of India's bowling attack for the ODI series in England.

#1 Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan has been in superb form recently having scored a century on the first day of the Test match before lunch against Afghanistan. He is a batsman who likes to convert the fifties into hundreds when he is in great touch.

He also has the ability to take on the bowlers right from the start and unsettle them. Dhawan has scored 4,361 runs in 102 ODIs at an average of 45.90 out of which 856 have come in England in 14 matches at an average of 71.33.

Hence, he is a very dangerous player for the English bowlers to watch out for. He will one of the key batsmen for India in England. Shikhar Dhawan was the leading run scorer in the 2 previous editions of Champions Trophy played in England in 2013 and 2017.