5 key battles that will decide the India vs England Test series

4. Alastair Cook vs Umesh Yadav

Almost overnight, Umesh Yadav has gone from a probable selection to the leader of the Indian pace attack. Considering injuries to Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, India only have three capped pure pacers in their squad: Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma.

Shami hasn’t played a first-class match in six months and Sharma struggles to swing the ball- vital in English conditions. That makes Yadav incredibly crucial to India’s chances in this series and his most important job will be getting Alastair Cook early.

Cook is no longer the same batsman that he once was having only made two centuries in his last 16 tests (though both were double centuries). Nonetheless, the former captain is a different batsman against India with an average of 54.37 since 2010.

Considering Cook’s ability to bat for long periods of time, it is vital to get him out early. If the Essex batsman has an issue in his game, it is his tendency to poke defensively at balls outside his off stump, often resulting in getting caught behind the wicket early in his innings.

Yadav is one of the few Indian bowlers with the ability to exploit the weakness as at his best as he often gets late swing early in the innings. However on the other hand, Yadav has the tendency to be horribly inconsistent and Cook can use him as a release valve if Yadav isn’t bowling well.

This battle will set the tone early in the innings for India while bowling.