India vs England Test Series 2018: 3 key player battles which might decide the outcome of the series
The first Test between England and India gets underway on the 1st of August at Birmingham. It is a series between two powerhouses of Test cricket, and hence, every moment of the series is going to be crucial for both sides.
The conditions will likely favor the home side England and make life difficult for the Indian batsmen.
England are a well-balanced side, and have two of the greatest bowlers Test cricket has ever seen, along with Ben Stokes, who is arguably the best all-rounder in the world at the moment. The only chink in their armor is their weak middle order, who have been largely inconsistent. Hence, they will depend on their two premier bowlers Stuart Broad and James Anderson to counter the strong Indian batting-order.
India, on the other hand, have developed into a world-class team under the captaincy of Virat Kohli. They have talented batsmen in their side who have the ability to take on any world-class bowling attack.
The only worry for India is the absence of their two strike bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Hence, the responsibility will now fall on the shoulders of Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma to take the majority of the 20 English wickets in each game.
The Indian opening batsmen will also have the responsibility of negotiating the new ball in order to protect the shaky middle order.
The Test series is going to be an exciting affair, with India looking to prove their ability in overseas conditions. Let us have a look at the 3 key player battles to watch out for.
#3 Alastair Cook vs Ishant Sharma
This battle between two experienced campaigners for their respective countries will be a crucial contest to watch out for. The leading run scorer among those players who are still playing Test cricket, Cook has been a consistent performer for England over the years. Out of his phenomenal 12145 runs in test cricket, Cook, in 25 matches against India, has scored 2104 runs at an average of 50.09. Incidentally, Cook's highest score of 294 also came against India at Birmingham in 2011.
Ishant Sharma, on the other hand, is a tricky customer to face. Due to his height, he extracts extra bounce from the surface and takes the ball away from the left-handed batsman. Having picked up 25 wickets in 7 matches at an average of 40.84 in England, Ishant Sharma will have to step up and spearhead the bowling attack in the absence of Kumar and Bumrah.
Cook has been dismissed 9 times against Ishant in the past, with a tendency to fall over on the flick proving to be his undoing. Ishant's shape away from the southpaw could serve him well this series also.