Rohit Sharma vs Liam Plunkett
Rohit Sharma has a career batting average of 44.55 but against England his average drops to 33.00. This time; flat pitches, short boundaries will provide him a chance to improve his middling record against England. Against England, he will come up against Liam Plunkett who is an indispensable part of their team. Plunkett bowls a hard-back-of-length-into-the-surface to gain natural variation and also bowls a high percentage of cross-seam deliveries to hit the splice of the bat. Rohit's dexterity against the back of the length ball and short ball will ensure an exciting mini-battle in the large context of the game.
Jason Roy vs Yuzvendra Chahal & Kuldeep Yadav
Jason Roy has risen up the charts of English batting unit. He holds the record of the highest individual score by an Englishmen in ODI cricket. In England's last ODI series against Australia Roy smashed 304 runs at an impressive strike rate of 118.28. Roy perfectly epitomizes modern batting - fearless, brutal and belligerent.
However, Roy struggles against wrist spin were evident in IPL. According to cricviz, in T20s, he averages 13.60 against leg spinners. India's wrist spin twin will look to exploit this chink in his armor. Chahal and Kuldeep's wrong-uns will pose a stringent challenge to England's dashing opener.
MS Dhoni vs Moeen Ali & Adil Rashid
If IPL 2018 is anything to go by, then MS Dhoni is back at his best. Throughout the tournament, he lit up the stage with his magnificent hitting prowess. At 36, Dhoni is fit and is hungry to contribute to the Indian team. Of late, Dhoni's weakness has been his inability to rotate strike against spinners. England spin twin - Ali and Rashid - will look to exploit this shortcoming by denying him quick singles. Add, Rashid's accurate variations viz googlies, top spinners, and traditional leg-breaks, Dhoni will have his task cut out when he will face these two England slow bowlers.
Jos Buttler vs Jasprit Bumrah & Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Since 2015 World Cup debacle England has been playing an attacking brand of cricket. From top to bottom, they come hard at opposition. Nobody portrays this offensive style better than Jos Buttler. He holds the record of fastest hundred by an Englishmen in ODIs. His most recent exploit includes an equanimous hundred that shepherded England to a nail-biting 1 wicket win against Australia.
Countering Buttler at death will be Jasprit Bumrah, who has carved an identity for himself in cricket's shorter versions. Bumrah pinpoint yorkers coupled with a dipping slower bowl will pose a tough challenge to Buttler. In addition to this, England's explosive batsman will face Bhuvneshwar Kumar's wide range of variations.
Full Schedule: India tour of England 2018
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