After a heartbreaking defeat in the World Test Championship final, Team India will be back in action against England. Indian cricket team led by Virat Kohli will face England in five test match series in England starting from August 4. Here are the top five players to watch out for in this series. (source)
Five Players for watch out for in Pataudi Trophy 2021
Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli, the name is enough to cause headaches amongst opposition teams. The aura and dominance of him in world cricket is enough to include him in this list. Virat Kohli does not like repeating mistakes and such was the case with King Kohli on his first two tours of England. In the 2014 tour, Kohli scored just 134 runs in five matches. While in the 2018 tour, he was the leading run-scorer with 593 runs in just five matches. This speaks the greatness of King Kohli as a batsman.
However, he has struggled in Test cricket since 2020. He will be aiming to repeat his last tour performance in this Pataudi Trophy and help India to defeat England in this series under his captaincy.
Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant has been sensational for India especially in Test cricket. He has also impressed everyone with his match-winning ability in his short career. He is going through a purple patch and is the leading run-scorer for India in Test cricket in 2021. In 2021, Rishabh has smashed 560 runs so far in 7 matches with the help of one hundred and four half-centuries in Test.
He will be looking to carry on from where he left against England earlier this year in India. During the 2018 tour of England, Pant has also scored a century against England in Test Cricket.
Joe Root
England test team captain Joe Root has established himself as one of the best batsmen in world cricket over the past few years. Joe Root who did not score a single century in 2020, got his mojo back in 2021 as he smashed three test centuries which included two double hundreds. Joe Root is also the leading run-getter in test matches in 2021 with 891 runs so far.
Joe Root has a terrific record against India in Test cricket. He has smashed five hundred and nine half-centuries against India in 20 test matches. He will be eager to get more runs under his belt against India in this upcoming Pataudi Trophy.
James Anderson
One of the all-time great bowlers in red-ball cricket, James Anderson will play his last series against India at home or maybe he will just keep going. He has picked 617 wickets in 162 test matches with an average of 26.67. His numbers speak about his phenomenal career. He also holds the record for most wickets in Test cricket for pacers. He is just three-wicket away from becoming the third-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket. Anderson has troubled Indian batsmen throughout his career. He will be one of the biggest threats for team India in this Pataudi Trophy.
Mohammed Shami
Mohammed Shami has emerged as India’s most valuable test bowler in the last two years and so. India will be banking on him to go all guns blazing against England in this test series. In WTC Final, Shami was on song as he picked four wickets in 1st inning. However, he does not have a great record against England. But he will be eyeing this series to better his record against England. Mohammed Shami has 184 wickets to his name in 51 test matches. He is known for his reverse swing to the full effect.
