India vs England 2016: 5 key player battles

#1 Ravichandran Ashwin – Alastair Cook

The battle between India’s most successful bowler and England’s top batsman will be a crucial one

It is hard to deny the fact that skipper Alastair Cook is still the best batsman in the England Test team. The left-hander has been smashing record after record with the bat and is in a great position to challenge the daunting numbers of legendary Indian batsman, Sachin Tendulkar.

Ravichandran Ashwin, on the other hand, is the bowling equivalent of Cook in Team India and is blazing away to greatness at the moment. Ashwin is no longer the same bowler whom the English had tackled during their 2-1 series win 4 years ago and has plenty of tricks up his sleeve to bamboozle Alastair Cook and his team.

In terms of their history, it is pretty much in the balance as the Indian off-spinner has dismissed the southpaw four times in 8 Tests whereas the latter averages over 40 against Ashwin. The Cook-Ashwin contest may turn out to be the most important individual battle of the series and may decide which way the series tilts.