England vs India 2018: Top 3 Batsmen to watch out for in the five-match Test series

Three batsmen to watch out for in England – India Test series

England are ready to take India in the most anticipated Test series of the summer, which will begin from August 1 in Birmingham. The five-match series over the course of 45 days will be an intense battle between both teams to register supremacy over their rivals. But before the first ball bowled, we will look in detail the three batsmen to watch out for in the series from both teams.

Virat Kohli
First up in the list is the best batsman in the world across all format – Virat Kohli. The India captain has enjoyed rich form in T20Is, ODIs, and Tests in the last 12 months and is expected to be one of the highest run-getter in the series. So far, Kohli has represented Team India in 66 matches, where he has scored 5,554 runs at an average of 53.40 with the help of 21 centuries. However, his record in England is extremely poor, to say the least as the 29-year-old has only managed to score 134 runs in five matches at an average of 13.40.

Murali Vijay
The next in the list is India opener Murali Vijay, who will go into the series with uncertainty around his spot in the playing eleven. The 34-year-old has represented his country in 57 Tests, where he has scored 3,907 runs at an average of 40.69 with the help of 12 centuries and 15 half centuries. But in the last eight innings, Vijay has only managed one score of 50 or more, which came in the solitary match against newcomers Afghanistan, which means anything below-par performance might see him losing his spot to KL Rahul, who is eagerly waiting for his chance.

Joe Root
Third, in the list features England captain Joe Root. The 27-year-old had a couple of hard months as a captain where his team were thrashed in the Ashes series and then had a tough outing against New Zealand as well. So naturally, the eyes will be on Root the captain as this series against one of the toughest opposition might prove to be the make or break for him as the leader in the five-day format. Another interesting aspect of Root’s performance has to do with his batting, as since August 2017, the Sheffield-born batsman has not scored a single century in the longest format of the game and it will be interesting to see if he can manage to break that sequence against India.