Australia vs England, 2018: 4 Englishmen to watch out for
Having snapped their losing streak in Tests, England will welcome their ascend to their much more comfortable territory, One Day International cricket. In the aftermath of their disastrous World Cup campaign, England have transformed themselves into a remarkable ODI side, highlighted by some of the most destructive players in the world.
The aforementioned transformation is not just limited to an intimidating assortment of limited overs players. England play like a completely different side once the format changes, as we saw on their extended tour of the southern hemisphere last winter. After relinquishing the Ashes in an embarrassing 4-0 defeat, they came back strongly to make a decent Australian side look like a grade cricket side subsiding against the intermittent alpha. Similarly, they scored more in individual ODIs in New Zealand than they did collectively over two innings in their nightmarish outing in the Auckland test.
Even though every player in the squad brings something special to the table, we look at the select few that will be instrumental in England kickstarting their road to an eventual world domination.
Joe Root
Regularly touted as England's best test bat, Root has often been ignored as a limited overs force, and that has started to get to him. Earlier this year, he entered himself into the IPL auction to place himself parallel with his star counterparts Virat Kohli, Steven Smith and Kane Williamson and also expressed his desire to represent England in all formats.
Doing well in ODIs for England consistently will be on Root's check-list and a strong start against Australia this summer could mean that he will finally be in the reckoning for England's premium white ball players. He was a vital member of the side that beat Australia at their home after 12 years, not just playing the role of anchor, but also took the pressure to score off the new batsmen allowing them to settle into their groove.
He often picks big scalps with his seemingly harmless off-spin, remember when he out-did both Johnson Charles and Chris Gayle in the 2016 World T20 final?