England vs India, 2018: 5 players to look out for
Both India and England are on a terrific run. In the month of June, India played just the one Test and 2 T20Is against much smaller opponents. India won all three matches but of course, their opponents were minnows Afghanistan and Ireland. England too has much to boast about. In the last month, not only did they win the 2nd Test against Pakistan, but more importantly they thrashed Australia in 5 ODIs and the only T20I. England are fresh off a record-breaking series that included the highest-ever ODI team score of 481.
Last time India toured England, Virat Kohli wasn't the captain and not nearly the man he is today. Prince Harry was still a bachelor. Smith and Warner were still playing for Australia and so was Stokes for England. But halfway through 2018 and how the tides have changed. Each of the incidents mentioned above have had an impact on the series. Ok, maybe not Prince Harry's marriage. He did, however, break tradition. Never-mind! England and India are arguably the strongest cricket teams on the planet. Don't let the rankings fool you, this is the fight everyone has been cramming for.
As we patiently wait for the series to begin, these are the top 5 players the cricket fraternity would be looking at during the bilateral series.
#5 Jos Buttler
Man of the Series against Australia, a Herculean effort in the final ODI and a half-century in the T20I at a strike rate of over 200, Jos Buttler is going through a Purple patch. He would face an uphill battle against the seam-spin combo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Chahal, we will know soon enough if he is up for a fight!
Here's what his last 10 innings look like - 61, 110*, 54*, 11, 91*, 9, 80*, 67, 39, 94*. Can he prove his mettle once again and silence his critics once and for all. We have to wait and watch. The next guy is on the list because the guy who was supposed to be on the list broke his fingers.