India vs England 2016: 5 key player battles

#3 Cheteshwar Pujara – Moeen Ali

Cheteshwar Pujara surely has some scores to settle with Moeen Ali

Cheteshwar Pujara is one of the mainstays of the current Indian batting line-up and is well-known for his solid technique. However, if there is one little chink in his armour, it has to be the way in which he has been troubled by off-spin bowling. In the past, bowlers like Graeme Swann and Nathan Lyon have exploited this weakness quite a bit.

Over the past 2 to 3 years, England all-rounder Moeen Ali has managed to take over the mantle of being the team’s lead spinner. On India’s 2014 tour to England, Ali enjoyed a lot of success against the visiting batsmen and Pujara in particular, whom he dismissed twice in back-to-back Tests.

The prolific Saurashtra batsman will surely have memories of 2014 still fresh in his mind and will be looking to extract some revenge on the off-spinner in his own backyard. Moeen Ali, meanwhile, will be looking to prove to Cheteshwar Pujara and the other Indian batsmen that he can succeed against them here as well.