England vs India 2018, ODI: 5 players to watch out for

After winning the three-match T20I series, the Indian team have certainly laid down a marker and the dominant England side know that they have their work cut out in the ODI series which begins on July 12.

It also has to be mentioned here that the Eoin Morgan-side are a much more destructive ODI side than they have been in T20Is in the recent past. Having said this, the Indian team seem to have all the bases covered and on pitches which are generally flaccid and batting paradises, the visitors seem to have the firepower to outmuscle the English team.

Well, England did blank Australia in their previous ODI series, but this team led by Virat Kohli will pose a trickier challenge to them, perhaps more than any team since they revamped their ODI model back in 2015.

For all the different challenges, the upcoming ODI series between perhaps the two best teams in the format will give us a better understanding of the favourites leading into the World Cup next year which will be held in England.

Here in this slider, we take a look at five players to watch out for, the players who in many ways will determine the future of the series.

#5 Jonny Bairstow

He is perhaps the most in-form batsman in the 50-over format, but despite this, he was the finisher in the T20Is and gave enough indications of his prowess lower down the order.

However, he will be back at the top of the order for England when the 50-overs format commences and how he fares against a far more skilled Indian bowling will determine which side the English side turns.

With four centuries in his last eight ODI matches, Bairstow is one of the bigger hurdles the Indian bowling has to overcome if they want to venture anywhere close to dominating the hosts.

#2 Shikhar Dhawan

He was crunching the ball like a dream before the T20I series where Dhawan got out for rather mediocre scores. However, he will still walk out to face the new ball and India would hope that the series gone by was nothing more than a minor blip.

The southpaw has the ability to take attacks apart and on pitches which will be conducive to stroke making, his free-flowing willow will be a huge bonus for the rest of the batting order.

He has been in good run-scoring form and has to see off the new ball and then hit his stride, for then he can press on the accelerator and take the attack to the hosts.

#3 Adil Rashid

For all the attention heaped on the batsmen, Adil Rashid has quietly carved himself a niche in the England ODI setup.

He gets the ball from Eoin Morgan to not only contain, but also pick up wickets during the middle phase which in many ways is the phase which determines the eventual score.

There is little doubt that the Indian batsmen will play him much better than the Australians did and this is his biggest challenge. He has to be far more attacking than what he was in the T20Is and back his skills.

#2 Umesh Yadav

With the injury to Jasprit Bumrah, the onus now lies on Umesh Yadav to assist Bhuvneshwar Kumar with the new ball.

Yadav has been good in the recent past and gave a decent account of himself not only in the Indian Premier League but also in the T20I series and should be a handful for the marauding England batting with his extra pace and the tendency to pick up crucial wickets.

However, he was more impressive at the back end of the innings and tended to nail his yorkers which is just the way he should bowl in the 50-over series and look to get rid of batsmen rather than containing them.

#1 Kuldeep Yadav

Both the teams more or less cancel out each other when it comes to batting strength and hence the performance of the bowlers takes prominence.

Kuldeep Yadav was benched for the third T20Is, owing to the surface and very short boundaries but he should bounce back in the playing XI in Trent Bridge.

And this is perhaps England's biggest threat. He picked up five wickets in just four overs in Machester and now he can bowl 10 overs and how the visitors pick him and then play him will determine the entire course of the series.

For Kuldeep too this will be another chance to test himself after the success in South Africa and since the pitches won't be his best ally, his skills to change pace, length and trajectory will all come to the fore.