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6 Key England Players To Watch Out For vs India | Which England players will be most key in the Test series against India away from home?

After a long interval of time, Test cricket is back in India with England touring India for a four-match Test series. In the last decade, there were two Test series played between these two sides in India, from which England managed to win one series in 2012 and were outplayed by the hosts comprehensively in the second series in 2016.

The upcoming Test series is the first one of this decade between these two historic rivals. India are high on confidence after a magnificent Test series victory down under with a relatively young side whereas England are morally boosted after whitewashing Sri Lanka in their own backyard by 2-0.

So, it’s definitely going to be a cracker of a contest. There are several English players who I think have the calibre to perform well in this tour and in this article, I am going to mention six of them. Here we go.

Dominic Bess

Dom Bess was able to draw the attention of the cricket fraternity with his impressive performances with the ball in the recently concluded Test series against Sri Lanka. He took 12 wickets from two Tests including one fifer at an average of 21.25 and a terrific SR of 42.58, and thus played an important role in England’s series victory.

With two Tests being scheduled in Chennai, where it assists the spinners to a great extent, Bess is expected to perform well and England will largely be dependent on his returns in order to restrict India to a low total.

Moeen Ali

Although his overall batting average in Tests is just around 29, Moeen Ali was one of the most successful English batsmen in England’s last tour of India in 2016. He scored 381 runs from nine innings at a healthy average of 42.33, including 2 centuries and one half century.

Particularly in Chennai, he played a gorgeous knock of 146, which was an example of his excellence against spin bowling on turning tracks. Yes, he was not up to the mark with the ball, but I think he might get the nod ahead of another inexperienced batsman in the middle order because of his abilities to play spinners well and perform well this time too on the Indian soil.

Jack Leach

Jack Leach has toured the subcontinent twice and has done a fairly good job so far. He took 18 wickets from just 3 tests against Sri Lanka in the 2018-19 tour at a very good average of 21.39 and had an excellent SR of 47.56. He complimented Dom Bess very well in the series against the same opposition this year. More importantly, 24 out of his 28 victims in these two tours were RHBs. Considering that India have good fraction of RHBs in their batting lineup, there is a big possibility of Leach being successful on the helpful Indian tracks.

Jofra Archer

Jofra Archer is one of the most promising fast bowlers in the current generation and the experts rate him quite highly. As far as I have seen, he is a very intelligent bowler and has all the weapons in his armory. He can swing the new ball; he hits the deck hard and has a vicious bouncer. One couldn’t get the idea of his pace as he generates that with a relatively short run up.

Therefore, there are several instances of the batsmen getting uncomfortable and being late to react while facing him. He has all the abilities to trouble the best of batsmen and if he somehow manages to extract the variable bounce by pounding the ball hard on the surface, facing him could really be a tough challenge for the Indian batters especially as the game progresses.

Ben Stokes

The English side has a few impactful players and Ben Stokes is the first name in that list. He was decent with the bat in his last tour to India as he scored 345 runs at an average of 38.33, including one hundred in the first Test at Rajkot.

However, as compared to that time, he is a better as well as more experienced player now. The way he dominates the spinners these days by playing sweeps, reverse sweeps and lofted shots using his feet etc. is phenomenal. So, his role in this England team is to play the kind of knocks that can shift the momentum towards his side in a quick time. Added to that, he is quite useful with the ball too and has a knack of picking wickets in crucial phases. So, Ben Stokes is definitely going to be a potential threat for the home side.

Joe Root

With 584 runs from six Tests at an average of 53.09, Joe Root is the most successful English batsman in India among the current England batsmen. He is one of the finest players of spin and looked in great touch in the recent series against Sri Lanka where he smashed 426 runs in just two Tests at a bradmanesque average of 106.50.

England have an inexperienced top order and therefore his role as the most experienced batsman becomes even more important. England will be largely dependent on him in order to post impressive totals on the board and his performance is going to define their fate in this series. Apart from his batting, it will be interesting to see how he leads the side in India as this tour is going to be a big challenge for him as a captain, too.

So, these are my six players to watch out for from the England team. Do any others come to mind? Have your say!

Written by Debashish Sarangi. Follow Debashish on Twitter today.

England in India 2021: Can England pull off a great win? | Do England stand a fighting chance in India?

Following England’s recent series win in Sri Lanka, I started to wonder whether they really did have a chance at winning a Test series out in India for the first time since 2012. That said, England need to address some key points before they can even think about winning a series in India, which is arguably the toughest assignment in world cricket. 

Banishing the demons of a torrid 2016/17 series

On England’s last tour of India, it’s safe to say that they were demolished by the home side despite making numerous scores of 400+. After drawing the first test match in Rajkot, England left India on the back of a 4-0 series defeat, of which every victory was convincing for the home side.

During that series England’s bowlers really struggled to be effective. Moeen, being played as one of England’s frontline spinners, only picked up 10 wickets at an average of 64.90. Broad and Anderson only picked up 12 wickets between them, although the pitches during that series did hugely favour the spinners. So, the role of Jack Leach and Dom Bess will be absolutely crucial in this series.

England must not rely too heavily on Joe Root’s runs

England relied very heavily on Joe Root’s runs during the 2016 series. He averaged 49.10 and England will need a better return from their top and middle order if they’re to stand any chance this time around. 

During England’s two test tour of Sri Lanka Root scored first innings scores of 228 and 186. England’s openers struggled when facing spin early in Sri Lanka. However, Dom Sibley’s innings on the final day in Galle showed some encouraging signs. His 56* saw England home to victory in the second test. Putting to bed claims that his technique isn’t good enough in sub-continent conditions. 

Leaving Jonny Bairstow at home for the first two test matches has raised a few eyebrows. As has the in-form Jos Buttler only playing the first test. But that’ll likely leave Ben Foakes with a chance to take the gloves for at least one test. A player who I think should have played more test matches for England than he already has. He’s England’s best wicket keeper and showed on England’s last tour of Sri Lanka that he can bat! 

Also read: An Aussie’s passionate take on why Australia lost to India

Get Virat Kohli out, early.

India’s batsmen played superbly in Australia, but Virat Kohli still holds a huge key here. Getting him out early sounds simple, right? Find a way to get Virat Kohli out early in his innings and limit the impact he has on the game. Something England struggled to do in 2016, where Virat went on to score 655 runs in the series. He averaged 109.16 and gave England’s bowlers all sorts of problems.

Virat is a master of his craft, and I don’t think there is any cricket fan in the world that doesn’t enjoy watching him bat. At home, Virat is a different animal all together. Although, I’ll whisper it quietly, he did look slightly out of form during the IPL and wasn’t his usual self out in Australia before leaving. But as the saying goes “form is temporary, class is permanent”. 

The return of Archer, Burns & Stokes.

England will be buoyed by the way in which they won in Sri Lanka. Then to have players with the Calibre of Archer, Burns and Stokes coming back into the squad, the camp will be full of confidence. Ben Stokes, a genuine threat to any team with bat and ball, would walk into any test side in an instance. He strengthens the England middle order and adds another bowling option for Root to turn to. I cannot wait to see Stokes back in England whites. 

Rory Burns had been a mainstay at the top of the order before he picked up an injury playing football last winter. You’d think he will slot back into opening the batting with Dom Sibley. It remains to be seen whether Archer will come straight back into the side. With the form of Broad and Anderson out in Sri Lanka they may stick with the experience duo for the first test.

My predicted England XI for the first test.

Rory Burns 

Dom Sibley

Zak Crawley

Joe Root

Dan Lawrence

Ben Stokes

Jos Buttler

Dom Bess

Stuart Broad

Jimmy Anderson 

Jack Leach

My Series Verdict.

This England team have an uphill battle ahead of them this winter but I do give them a fighting chance. India will be full of confidence after their performance in Australia and they welcome back their captain, Virat Kohli, back into the mix. I was really encouraged by the knock of Dom Sibley to lead England home on the final day in Galle. He’s given me the belief that he and Rory Burns can get England off to the strong start that’ll be required to take the pressure off Joe Root.

Ultimately, I think the series will be won and lost for England in two areas. Firstly it will depend on whether Dom Bess and Jack Leach can bowl consistently and aggressively enough to be challenging the Indian batsmen. I was encouraged by the way both bowled on the final day in Sri Lanka and hope they can carry that form into the first Test in Chennai. Also, England’s middle order needs to deliver this time around. They cannot afford to collapse like they have in the not-so-distant past. Ben Stokes is back and I was really impressed by the performance of Dan Lawrence out in Sri Lanka. He looks a real talent and I think that spot in the England side is between he and Ollie Pope once he is fit.

My Series Prediction – 2-1 England win.