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ENG vs IND: 3 unlikely players who could play a key role | 3 unlikely players who can make a big impact in the England vs India Test series
India is set to play a challenging five match long Test series against the Joe Root-led English team.
The first game will kick start from 4th August onward and the lengthy series will surely spring up some absolutely riveting contests as well as individual performances.
Such kind of a series always tends to throw up defining performances from players who were not necessarily earmarked to play significant roles at the beginning of the campaign.
They turn up to be the unlikely stars playing a key role in determining the eventual result of the contest. On that note, let us elaborate on three players who can surprise the audience and don important caps for their respective teams in the forthcoming series.
KL Rahul
KL Rahul has been out of the scheme of things of the Indian test team for quite some time now.
However, some recent murmurs suggest that the flamboyant batsman could be making his way into the playing XI quite soon. Shubman Gill’s injury and Mayank Agarwal’s concussion means he is all but set to open for India.
He scored a century in India’s last tour of England, and if he can set up a strong platform for India’s experienced middle order, then it will go a long way to helping the tourists win the series. His addition would further augment the terrific capabilities of the Indian batting unit and hence one can perhaps oversee him donning a crucial role at some point in the series.
Mark Wood
Mark Wood comes across as someone having a distinct ability in that English bowling unit equipped with multiple skillsets.
The bowler is capable of bowling very quick, and his frame generally allows him to extract that additional bit of bounce from the surface. His importance in this whole setup primarily triggers due to the majorly separate talents that the other frontline pacers in the team such as James Anderson and Stuart Broad possess.
Wood is possibly someone who can be roped in as a first-change pacer, someone who would do the damage in the second session of sorts, that is, in the period when the first new ball gets slightly old and there’s still time for the introduction of the second one.
Wood will present quite a unique challenge in front of the Indian batsmen, as he will arguably be someone who would rely more on the back-of-the-length, shorter deliveries to scalp dismissals.
To regularly alter between bowlers who make you play on the front and then instantly against those who push you on the backfoot will possibly be one of the many challenges for the Indian team to face in the coming series.
Haseeb Hameed
Haseeb Hameed is likely to stage a comeback to international cricket after about five years since having debuted for England in their tour to India in late-2016.
Haseeb has dealt with quite a challenging phase in his cricketing career during this period, and his comeback sparks hope of England finally resolving its opening conundrum after years of several unsatisfactory experiments.
Moreover, the 24-year-old batsman struck a century against the Indian bowling unit in the same game as Rahul, and has perhaps further strengthened his claim to partner the ever dependable Rory Burns at the top.
Haseeb is likely to have added further dimensions to his overall style of play in the years he spent out of the public eye.
That along with testing grind that he went through in the last few years and the suitable home conditions could perhapsset him up for quite a remarkable Test series this time around; something, that can very well shape the future course of his career.
Written by Tarkesh Jha. Follow Tarkesh on Twitter
