5 epic clashes to look forward to in the upcoming England-India test series

#2 Joe Root vs Ravichandran Ashwin:

The Battle between England captain and India's No.1 spinner will be the one to watch out for

England skipper Joe Root has been among the best batsmen of this generation and his wicket will be crucial for India in order to make inroads into England’s long batting lineup. He is one of England’s best players of spin and uses his wrists well to manoeuvre the ball into the gaps.

His ability to play spin well has made him one of the most impactful batsmen in the longer format of the game. Root however showed signs of struggle against the spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the test series against India in 2017. The 27 year old often commits into playing shots against spin too early, a trait which gets him into trouble when the ball starts stopping on the pitch. Pitches in England are likely to be much drier and slower at this time of the year which may lead to the ball stop and grip on the surface before reaching the batsmen.

Ravichandran Ashwin, who has been India’s premier wicket taker in tests with 316 wickets from 58 test matches will be keen to exploit any sort of assistance available from the surface. His ability to flight the ball and get it to drift before spinning the other way to go with his subtle variations such as the carrom ball and the top spinner make him one of the most lethal spinners in world cricket at the moment.

Despite the pitches in England, which will not assist spinners in the same way as the seamers, Ashwin is a born competitor and will be willing to leave his mark in England this time around. The battle between the Tamil Nadu tweaker and Joe Root will be the one to look out for in the upcoming test series.