5 key battles that will decide the India vs England Test series

In perhaps one of the most significant Test series of our time, India have landed in England with an aim to establish themselves as a truly great side.

Over the past three years, since Virat Kohli has taken over the captaincy, India have beaten every team they have faced at home. However, the bogey that has haunted previous Indian teams remains: whether this team can beat England, Australia or South Africa away from home.

Kohli’s squad have only had one opportunity, losing away from home to South Africa earlier this year. Now they go to face an inconsistent English side which is still formidable at home.

Like any test series, this series will be decided by a few key battles. In 2011, James Anderson troubled Sachin Tendulkar like very few bowlers have managed to, and that was a major reason behind India’s loss.

The series before that, Zaheer Khan’s domination of English star opener Andrew Strauss gave the whole side confidence.

So what are some key battles that will decide the fate of India vs England Test series 2018? Here goes:

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5. Ajinkya Rahane vs Moeen Ali

There is very little that can trouble Ajinkya Rahane. For 17 out of first 18 matches in his career, the Mumbai batsman was on tour as he became one of the very few Indian batsmen to dominate overseas.

Rahane made hundreds in New Zealand, England, Australia and Sri Lanka, while making a 90+ score in the South Africa. Yet, Rahane has struggled relatively when playing in India, averaging 32.87 at home compared to 52.05 away from home.

This has led to questions surrounding Rahane’s ability to play spin. Most of these are overblown considering Rahane has played several great innings on rank turners, including a century in both innings against South Africa in Delhi, two centuries in Colombo and a 188 against New Zealand in Indore.

However, England will be looking at their spinners to exploit Rahane’s supposed weakness. And for that role, England have the perfect man: Moeen Ali.

While Ali was dropped for the Pakistan series (after a horrible tour down under), he is likely to be selected considering his exploits in the ODI series and his performance against India last time they were in England. Ali’s subtle turn could trouble Rahane - the Worcestershire all-rounder took Rahane’s wicket twice in 2014.

Considering that Rahane is one of the few batsmen that England cannot trouble with swing, they will be hoping that Ali can use variations against Rahane. As Ali is the rare off-spinner who likes bowling to right-hand batsmen, he might be one of England’s best hopes against Rahane. This is one of the battles that will define the series.

4. Alastair Cook vs Umesh Yadav

Almost overnight, Umesh Yadav has gone from a probable selection to the leader of the Indian pace attack. Considering injuries to Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, India only have three capped pure pacers in their squad: Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma.

Shami hasn’t played a first-class match in six months and Sharma struggles to swing the ball- vital in English conditions. That makes Yadav incredibly crucial to India’s chances in this series and his most important job will be getting Alastair Cook early.

Cook is no longer the same batsman that he once was having only made two centuries in his last 16 tests (though both were double centuries). Nonetheless, the former captain is a different batsman against India with an average of 54.37 since 2010.

Considering Cook’s ability to bat for long periods of time, it is vital to get him out early. If the Essex batsman has an issue in his game, it is his tendency to poke defensively at balls outside his off stump, often resulting in getting caught behind the wicket early in his innings.

Yadav is one of the few Indian bowlers with the ability to exploit the weakness as at his best as he often gets late swing early in the innings. However on the other hand, Yadav has the tendency to be horribly inconsistent and Cook can use him as a release valve if Yadav isn’t bowling well.

This battle will set the tone early in the innings for India while bowling.

3. Cheteshwar Pujara vs Stuart Broad

Stuart Broad remains one of the biggest enigmas of the modern Test Match era. At his best, there are very few bowlers that can match his best spells. His 8/15 spell in the 2015 Ashes, his 6/17 against South Africa at the Wanderers and 6/54 against New Zealand in March this year rank among the greatest spells of the modern era.

The problem? They are also his only five-wicket hauls in the past three years.

The last time that Broad had a dry spell like this was in 2011, when a home series against India rejuvenated his career. He will hoping that another home series against India will do the same trick in 2018.

Broad will be vital to England’s chances of getting Cheteshwar Pujara out. Pujara has struggled in series outside of India, only averaging 35.24 away from home compared to an outstanding 62.42 at home.

Broad is the perfect bowler to trouble Pujara- the Nottinghamshire fast bowler still has the ability to bounce batsmen out. While Pujara doesn’t have a short-ball problem, he does have a tendency to unnecessarily fend balls, especially in away conditions.

If England place a short leg for Pujara against Broad (as many teams have successfully done), then India’s No. 3 could be in trouble.

Moreover if Broad successfully pitches the ball up in swinging conditions, then Pujara’s poke outside off stump could result in easy wickets for the English. On the other hand, Pujara is the type of batsman who can frustrate Broad to no end.

After all, Murali Vijay and Pujara’s partnership in the second innings at Lord’s in 2014 was one that arguably won the match for India. Pujara’s 43 off 126 balls may not seem very impressive but considering the state of the game and the pitch, he managed to frustrate the hosts, allowing India to achieve a 300+ second innings lead.

If he can repeat such performances, India might have a chance.

2. Joe Root vs India’s spinners

To be perfectly frank, India’s second string pace attack (missing Bhuvi and Bumrah) will not trouble one of the best batsmen in the world in Joe Root. Root averages 98.33 in test matches against the pace trio of Yadav, Sharma and Shami (collected and collated from CricMetric).

Even against Australia and New Zealand where Root ‘struggled’ (based on his own stratospheric standards), he was mainly dismissed by truly excellent bowlers like Mitchell Starc, Tim Southee and Trent Boult. Yadav, Sharma and Shami do not belong to the same class.

Thus, India will need their spinners to perform in traditionally pace-friendly conditions to stop Root from scoring freely and heavily.

India’s spin attack still remains in question as Kuldeep Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja will be competing for a few spots. Root has brilliant technique against spin but can be troubled by balls spinning away from him. Thus Jadeja might be ideal against Root, having taken his wicket five times on previous occasions.

However, Ashwin or Kuldeep may be preferred to Jadeja (as India are likely to go with only one spinner). In this case, Kuldeep might be a better choice considering that his googly goes away from the right-hander and he can trouble England’s batsmen.

While Root picked Kuldeep from the hand in the ODI series, he has enough variations up his sleeve to come up with something new. Usually spinners are used as defensive options in England. If India want to get Root’s wicket quickly, then they will need to use their spinner as a wicket-taking option.

1. Virat Kohli vs James Anderson

No matter whatever Virat Kohli has achieved in Test cricket over the past four years, 13.40 has been used as a caveat against him by critics. That was of course his average in England in the 2014 test series.

His detractors have used that statistic to point out that Kohli cannot play quality swing or pace bowling- a silly argument considering his success in tests in Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, not to mention his limited overs performances.

However, if Kohli wants to be recognized as an all-time great test batsman, then he needs a great series against England. Since 2014, Kohli has corrected his technique significantly and is far better poised to handle swinging conditions.

However, his defensive prod continues to be an issue especially early in his innings (he got out to that same shot against South Africa on multiple occasions).

Moreover, the man that troubled Kohli so much in 2014 (taking his wicket on four occasions) remains one of the World’s best swing bowlers: James Anderson. Anderson has enjoyed a late career renaissance at home as he has taken 78 wickets over the past three summers at an incredible bowling average of 15.12.

Without an iota of doubt, England target Kohli with Anderson’s swing and seam, bringing him on as soon as Kohli arrives at the crease.

On one hand, Anderson could get into Kohli’s head and exploit any potential technical weaknesses. On the other hand, this could help Kohli banish the demons of 2014 and show the entire world that swing bowling is no longer a weakness for him.

The mind games have already begun between these two, but it is on the field that we will get to see one of the great test matches battles of our generation.