1 Cheteshwar Pujara
Pujara had a good performance in the practice match against Leicestershire last week. But the form he showed for Sussex in English county cricket until April turned out to be false and paved the way for his return.
For India after being knocked out of the home series against Sri Lanka. Pujara played 4 matches for Sussex and in all those matches he scored 201, 109, 203, 170 centuries.
To win the series against England, India need Pujara’s concentration and ability to play well.
2 Rishabh Pant
Pantla is currently facing some difficulties in white ball cricket. But he is doing well in Test cricket as he has scored 100, 96, 39 and 50 in the last four innings against South Africa and Sri Lanka. Pant holds the record of 308 runs in 7 matches against England. The century at 23.69 and the overall left-hander has scored 578 runs at 32.11 against England with 2 centuries in 11 Tests.
But beyond that number, Pant could play a few matches against Australia. Though there was a recent mess on the white ball, Pant included it in the X-factor calculation.
3 Jaspreet Bumrah
Bumrah has already taken more than 300 wickets in all international formats, including 123 wickets in 29 Tests. In England, Bumrah has a good record of 32 wickets in 7 Tests with a good strike-rate of 53.3 and overall, the fast bowler has taken 36 wickets in 9 Tests against England.
Bumrah will be eager to repeat the success against England and his efforts to secure India’s future at Edgbaston will go a long way.
4 Johnny Bairstow
For the man who played 86 Tests, Bairstow’s record is a bit moderate – 5,000 runs at 36.07, including 10 centuries and 23 fifties. Yorkshireman has scored 414 runs in 9 matches against India, averaging 93.87 at an average of 25.87.
He has played a total of 17 Tests against India and scored 803 runs at a speed of 27.68, including his highest 93 runs. So Bairstow could not make much of an impact against India.
But in the recent series against New Zealand, we saw Bairstow’s different score of 394, which is second only to Root’s 396, and he scored in those 328 balls. That means his strike rate for the entire series is 120.12 with two centuries. So India will be wary of this new bairstow.
5 Joe Root
Root scored 396 runs at an average of 99 in 3 Tests against New Zealand, which will remind us of the Australian veterans. He also completed 10,000 Test runs in the series against New Zealand, making him the second English player after Alastair Cook to do so. Root has played 14 Tests against India in England and has scored 1401 runs with six centuries at an average of 70.05. Overall, Root has scored 2353 runs in 24 Tests against India at an average of 60.33 with 8 centuries. They are in huge numbers.
It looks like India will be eager to stop this Yorkshire man and he will be released as a batsman only after stepping down as captain.
6 James Anderson
Last but not least! The 39-year-old Lancashire batsman recently crossed the 650-wicket mark in the series with 11 wickets in two Tests against New Zealand, becoming the third bowler after Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne. Anderson has taken 99 wickets in 21 Tests against India in England and 10 wickets in 2 Tests in Edgbaston. Overall, Anderson has taken 133 wickets in 34 Tests against India.
Aging has not diminished Anderson’s ability, and if something is properly maintained and rested, ‘Jimmy’ could be more detrimental to the opposition.
India will be keen to thwart Anderson’s threat and deny him an early wicket. But it will be part of the story as a fast bowler can do well on both old and new balls. He is good at traditional and reverse swing, so it is easier for India than Edgbaston.