India vs England 5th Test 2022: Six Key Players Who Can Turn Match At Edgbaston

1
Cheteshwar
Pujara

Pujara
had
a
lukewarm
outing
against
Leicestershire
in
the
warm-up
match
last
week.
But
that
belied
the
form
he
showed
for
Sussex
in
the
English
county
cricket
through
April,
that
paved
the
way
for
his
return
to
the
India
side
after
being
left
out
for
the
home
series
against
Sri
Lanka.
Pujara
played
4
matches
for
Sussex
and
he
made
hundreds
in
all
those
matches
—
201,
109,
203,
170.

India
will
require
Pujara’s
ability
to
concentrate
and
pile
a
big
innings
against
England
to
emerge
winners
or
even
for
a
draw
that
can
gift
them
a
series
win.

2
Rishabh
Pant

Pant
might
be
having
some
difficulties
in
white
ball
cricket
at
the
moment.
But
in
Test
cricket
he
is
going
through
a
fine
run
as
his
last
4
innings
against
South
Africa
and
Sri
Lanka
have
produced
100,
96,
39
and
50.
Pant
has
a
reasonable
record
against
England
in
England
having
scored
308
runs
in
7
matches
with
a
hundred
at
23.69
and
overall
the
left-hander
has
scored
578
runs
against
England
from
11
Tests
at
32.11
with
2
hundreds.

But
beyond
those
numbers,
Pant
can
produce
some
really
match-turning
innings
as
he
did
against
Australia.
Despite
his
recent
white
ball
turmoils
Pant
brings
that
X-Factor
to
the
calculations.

3
Jasprit
Bumrah

Bumrah
has
already
bagged
more
than
300
wickets
across
all
international
formats
and
123
of
them
have
come
in
Test
cricket
in
29
matches.
In
England,
Bumrah
has
a
good
record
too
taking
32
wickets
from
7
Tests
at
a
very
good
strike-rate
of
53.3
and
overall,
the
fast
bowler
has
taken
36
wickets
against
England
in
9
Tests.

Bumrah
will
be
eager
to
replicate
that
success
against
England
and
his
efforts
will
go
a
long
way
in
determining
India’s
fortunes
at
Edgbaston.

4
Jonny
Bairstow

For
someone
who
has
played
86
Test
matches,
Bairstow’s
record
is
slightly
middling
—
5000
runs
at
36.07
with
10
hundreds
and
23
fifties.
Against
India,
the
Yorkshireman
has
fared
rather
moderately
scoring
414
runs
from
9
matches
at
25.87
with
a
highest
of
93.
He
has
played
a
total
of
17
Tests
against
India
and
made
803
runs
at
27.68
with
93
as
his
highest.
So,
Bairstow
has
not
made
his
presence
felt
big
time
against
India.

But
in
the
recent
series
against
New
Zealand,
we
saw
a
different
Bairstow
smoking
394
runs,
second
highest
behind
Root’s
396,
and
he
made
those
runs
from
328
balls.
It
meant
that
his
strike-rate
for
the
whole
series
remained
a
T20-esque
120.12
and
two
hundreds
to
boot
with.
So,
India
will
be
wary
of
this
new
Bairstow.

5
Joe
Root

Root
was
at
his
solid
best
against
New
Zealand
stroking
396
runs
from
3
Tests
at
an
average
99
that
will
remind
of
a
certain
Australian
legend.
He
also
went
past
10000
Test
runs
in
the
series
against
New
Zealand,
second
Englishman
to
achieve
the
feat
after
Alastair
Cook.
Root
has
played
14
Tests
against
India
in
England
and
made
1401
runs
at
70.05
with
6
hundreds.
Overall,
Root
has
played
in
24
Tests
against
India
scoring
2353
runs
at
60.33
with
8
centuries.
They
are
formidable
numbers.

India
will
be
keen
to
stop
this
Yorkshire
man
and
stepping
away
from
captaincy
seemed
to
have
only
liberated
him
as
a
batsman.

6
James
Anderson

Last
but
not
the
least!
The
39-year-old
Lancashire
man
was
in
good
touch
against
New
Zealand
recently
taking
11
wickets
from
2
Tests,
going
past
650
wickets
mark
in
the
series
too,
third
bowler
after
Muttiah
Muralitharan
and
Shane
Warne
to
do
that.
Anderson
has
taken
99
wickets
from
21
Tests
against
India
in
England,
10
wickets
from
2
Tests
at
Edgbaston.
Overall,
Anderson
has
taken
133
wickets
in
34
Tests
against
India.

The
advancing
age
has
not
dimmed
Anderson’s
abilities
and
if
anything
a
properly
maintained
and
rested
‘Jimmy’
can
be
even
more
damaging
to
the
opposition.

India
will
be
eager
to
negate
the
Anderson
threat
and
deny
him
early
wickets.
But
that
will
be
one
part
of
the
story
as
the
pacer
can
operate
in
fine
measure
with
both
old
and
new
ball.
He
is
good
at
conventional
and
reverse
swing,
so
it
is
a
task
easier
said
than
done
for
India
at
Edgbaston.