The rampaging Indian Test team led by Virat Kohli is due to embark on its toughest home assignment so far as they take on England in a five-match Test series. While the Englishmen may have the psychological edge as they won their last series here and also vanquished the Indians at home in 2014, it may all count for nothing when the two sides take the field on 9 November for the 1st Test at Rajkot.
Both teams have some fantastic players in their ranks, a few of whom are counted among the best in the world at present. India boast of world beaters like Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Ravichandran Ashwin whereas stars like Alastair Cook, Joe Root and Stuart Broad have been the heroes for England in Test cricket.
Apart from the greater battle which will be fought between the two sides on the field, there will be a number of mini-battles between individuals from the teams and the result of the series may end up being determined by which team wins more of them.
Here are 5 key player battles which will be of utmost importance in the India-England Test series:
#5 Ravindra Jadeja – Joe Root
Indian left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja has been a real force to reckon with in home conditions over the past few years. The most outstanding fact about Jadeja’s performance has been the manner in which he has dominated some of the best batsmen in the opposition side.
The Baroda all-rounder dismissed former Australian skipper Michael Clarke 5 times in 3 Tests during the 2013 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Apart from that, he has dismissed top Proteas batsmen AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis 4 times each and also accounted for Hashim Amla thrice.
In recent times, Joe Root has clearly been England’s batting star and is also among the finest batsmen of this generation. Considering Ravindra Jadeja’s knack of getting the big players out, he may be fancying his chances against Root, whose wicket he has already claimed twice in his career.
The battle between the accurate left-arm spinner and the supremely talented batsman will surely be one to watch out for.
#4 Ajinkya Rahane – Ben Stokes
Ajinkya Rahane has been India’s most consistent batsmen in Test cricket for a while and has made an immense contribution to the team’s success in recent times. What has stood out about Rahane is the fact that he scored runs in all conditions and has even delivered in pressure situations.
Of late, all-rounder Ben Stokes has been England’s hero with the ball and has also produced the goods with the bat quite often. Just like Rahane, Stokes has also done well for his team irrespective of the conditions and has rescued his team from tricky situations on multiple occasions.
Taking into account the fact that Ben Stokes is among the best bowlers in the England team, he and Ajinkya Rahane are sure to cross paths during the 5-match Test series. It will be interesting to see who among these two match-winners will be able to have the upper hand in the 2016 Pataudi Trophy.
#3 Cheteshwar Pujara – Moeen Ali
Cheteshwar Pujara is one of the mainstays of the current Indian batting line-up and is well-known for his solid technique. However, if there is one little chink in his armour, it has to be the way in which he has been troubled by off-spin bowling. In the past, bowlers like Graeme Swann and Nathan Lyon have exploited this weakness quite a bit.
Over the past 2 to 3 years, England all-rounder Moeen Ali has managed to take over the mantle of being the team’s lead spinner. On India’s 2014 tour to England, Ali enjoyed a lot of success against the visiting batsmen and Pujara in particular, whom he dismissed twice in back-to-back Tests.
The prolific Saurashtra batsman will surely have memories of 2014 still fresh in his mind and will be looking to extract some revenge on the off-spinner in his own backyard. Moeen Ali, meanwhile, will be looking to prove to Cheteshwar Pujara and the other Indian batsmen that he can succeed against them here as well.
#2 Virat Kohli – Stuart Broad
Virat Kohli may have established himself as one of the best Test batsmen in the world but his struggles against England have always been a talking point. Iconic English pacer James Anderson, in particular, has always had an edge over the Indian Test skipper as he dismissed him 5 times in Tests.
However, with Anderson out of action due to injury, it will be up to Stuart Broad to maintain England’s upper hand over Kohli. The Delhi batsman has also found the going difficult against Broad in the past as he averages just 4.50 when facing up to the lanky pacer and has got out twice to him.
For Virat Kohli, it will be a question of setting the record straight against Broad & co. by scoring a lot of runs in the upcoming series. On the other hand, Stuart Broad will be looking to dent Kohli’s high levels of confidence and leave him in doubt about his abilities in the longer format.
It is sure to be an incredible contest between the two well-established cricketers.
#1 Ravichandran Ashwin – Alastair Cook
It is hard to deny the fact that skipper Alastair Cook is still the best batsman in the England Test team. The left-hander has been smashing record after record with the bat and is in a great position to challenge the daunting numbers of legendary Indian batsman, Sachin Tendulkar.
Ravichandran Ashwin, on the other hand, is the bowling equivalent of Cook in Team India and is blazing away to greatness at the moment. Ashwin is no longer the same bowler whom the English had tackled during their 2-1 series win 4 years ago and has plenty of tricks up his sleeve to bamboozle Alastair Cook and his team.
In terms of their history, it is pretty much in the balance as the Indian off-spinner has dismissed the southpaw four times in 8 Tests whereas the latter averages over 40 against Ashwin. The Cook-Ashwin contest may turn out to be the most important individual battle of the series and may decide which way the series tilts.
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