England vs India, 2018: 5 Player battles to watch out for

After the end of an exciting T20I series, the carnival now shifts to the 50-over version of the game as India and England lock horns once again in a three-match series which begins at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on Thursday.

India does have a few changes in the 50-over squad from the 20-over version with Shreyas Iyer replacing Manish Pandey and also Axar Patel returning to the squad, thereby providing the finger spin option and it will be interesting to see if both get to play at any point in the series.

England, too, have a few changes from the squad that played the T20Is with Moeen Ali and Chris Jordan not featuring in the 50-over party.

The T20I series saw quite a few player battles between players in both sides. One can hope for more of the same in the ODIs.

Here are five player battles to look forward to from the series:

#1 Umesh Yadav vs Jason Roy

The early exchanges usually decide the fate of an innings and the contest between Umesh Yadav and Jason Roy will be an important one. In the T20I series, in the matches played both at Old Trafford and Bristol, the right-hander put the pressure on the Indian bowlers from the word-go to push them on the backfoot.

In order to stop him from that, India will bank on Yadav to do the early damage. The fast bowler dismissed Roy twice in the T20I series, both times bowled, by keeping it wicket-to-wicket, not giving any room to free his arms.

Barring the game at Bristol, where almost every Indian bowler suffered the brunt of playing on a ground with very small boundaries, Umesh has shown good control with the ball, even showing that he can get the ball in the blockhole in the death overs during the second T20I at Cardiff.

On Thursday though, his job will be to prevent Roy from getting off to a flier and the hosts will hope the opener can set the tone early on once again in the innings.

#2 David Willey vs Rohit Sharma

The Indian opener has had his issues in the past facing left-arm quickies, especially with the ball coming in. So the proposition of facing David Willey could be a testing one for him.

Although the pitches have barely aided swing bowling in limited-overs in England in recent times, if Willey could try and bring it back the ball in the air, it could trouble the opener at the top of the order.

On the other hand, Sharma can counter the angle either by standing outside the crease or by expecting the ball to keep coming back in, so that the one that goes away he can either smash it for four or let go off.

It promises to be an intriguing contest between these two players.

#3 Yuzvendra Chahal vs Alex Hales

Can Chahal get the better of Hales in the ODIs?

This promises to be an interesting contest. After England's hapless performance against spin in the 1st T20I, their batsman, especially Alex Hales came out all guns blazing in the second outing, unafraid to launch them into the stands.

In the past, one has observed that Yuzvendra Chahal has used the ploy to bowling it wide outside the off-stump to get the batsmen to chase the ball and eventually get him stumped, most famously against Glenn Maxwell in the ODI series last year in India.

If Hales does go after him in the initial part of his innings, it will be intriguing to see how Chahal responds and if he does take the option of bowling wide again.

#4 Adil Rashid vs Virat Kohli

Will Kohli fall to the googly again or get some runs against it?

Adil Rashid may not be England's answer to Shane Warne, but he could be someone who could trouble Virat Kohli in the series. The reason? Kohli fell a few times to leg-spinners in the IPL, especially failing to pick the googly from the likes of Mujeeb Zadran and Shreyas Gopal.

So if Rashid can mix his deliveries and toss the googly unpredictably, it could land Kohli in problems.

On the other hand, if Kohli can observe the hand and pick the wrong 'un, he could land a few beyond the ropes and make the leg-spinner think.

#5 Kuldeep Yadav vs Jos Buttler

Can Kuldeep bounce back after the carnage at Cardiff?

This could be an interesting battle because unlike in T20Is, Jos Buttler will bat in the middle-order in the ODIs and could face the possibility of playing Kuldeep Yadav, first up when he comes to the crease.

If that turns out to be the case then how Kuldeep responds will be intriguing because of what happened in the second T20I when he got swept by Jonny Bairstow for sixes over mid-wicket.

Buttler may not employ the sweep shot as much as he would stand and hit the ball to all parts of the ground. Can Kuldeep stop him? We'll know soon.

Who do you think will be the best performer in the upcoming England-India ODI series? Tell us in the comments below!