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Joe Root
The England captain started the year 2021 on a dominant note as he slammed back-to-back centuries against Sri Lanka in the 2-Test series in the island nation.
The talented right-handed batsman showed why his name is being taken in the same breath as Virat Kohli, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson. The Yorkshire batsman showed why he's also hailed as the modern-day legends in Test cricket.
Root amassed 426 runs in the four innings with the highest being 228 in the opening Test at Galle. He went on slamming another big hundred in the second Test and frustrated the Sri Lankan bowlers with his mammoth knock.
Root had scores of 228, 1; 186, 11 in the four innings of the series at an incredible average of 106.5. Given the way he countered Sri Lankan spinners in the latter's backyard, he would be high on confidence and it will take an equally good strategy for the Indians to get rid of the English skipper.
Root - who will be making his 100th Test appearance on February 05 at MA Chidambaram Stadium - would be looking to make it even more special. In 16 Tests played against India, Root has scored 1421 runs, including four centuries and 19 half-centuries at an impressive average of 56.84.
Ben Stokes
If one batsman against whom India need to be really cautious after Root, it has to be Ben Stokes. The left-handed batsman would be looking to continue his good form with the bat.
Stokes has been a completely evolved batsman from the one who toured India in 2016 and will certainly give the Indian bowlers a run for their money. Stokes slammed a ton and fifty, apart from scoring 345 runs in the ten innings. Against India, he has made overall 545 runs and averaged 42.74.
Stokes was in fine touch against West Indies and showed grit and character with his resilient knocks. His stature as a Test cricketer has grown in leaps and bounds in the last couple of years and that makes him even more dangerous.
The southpaw will be making his return in Test side after recovering from the injury and given his performances exploits, he's definitely going to one of the most sought-after players in the series.
Rory Burns
The England opener is making his comeback into the Test side after going on paternity leave to welcome his first child. The elegant left-handed batsman from Surrey is dubbed as the first-choice opener for the English side ever since Alastair Cook hung up his boots.
The southpaw - who made a couple of fifties in the Test series against West Indies at home last summer - hasn't played any first-class cricket since September last year but that doesn't mean he could not be considered as a real threat.
Dom Sibley
The opener showed great character in the final innings of the second Test match against Sri Lanka and scored an unbeaten half-century to guide his team to an emphatic win.
With his knock of 56 in the final innings of second Galle Test, the Surrey cricketer showed that he could negotiate well against spin and along with his teammate Zak Crawley - working hard to play Indian spinners well.
Zak Crawley
The tall right-handed batsman from Kent will be one of the players to watch out for in the upcoming series. The middle-order batsman who will be 23 in the next week has shown a lot of promise in his short career of 10 Tests.
After scoring three fifties in his first seven Tests for England, Crawley went on slamming his maiden Test ton in his eighth Test and went converting it into a double century. His mammoth innings of 267 against Pakistan at Southampton and 541-minute-long stay at the crease showed he's wired for Test cricket and that makes him a dangerous batsman.
According to England's batting coach both Sibley and Crawley are 'making strides' against spin ahead of the series as they have been playing sweeps and reverse sweeps well in the nets. Both Sibley and Crawley could prove to be dangerous for the Indians once they dig deep in the crease and settle down.
Jos Buttler
The right-handed wicketkeeper-batsman has always loved batting against the Indians and would be looking to continue his good run in the upcoming Test series. Buttler is also coming back from a good form in Sri Lanka where he scored 131 runs in three innings and scored at an average of 65.60. Buttler made valuable contributions with the bat at crunch situations and that would have given him a lot of confidence.
The wicketkeeper-batsman would also take confidence from his performance in the red-ball cricket ever since international cricket resumed post-Covid-19 lockdown.
The explosive Somerset batsman is capable of changing the course of the match in a matter of a session and his performances against Pakistan at home in the English summer gave him a fresh lease of life in the longer format. Buttler would be looking to put the Indian bowlers under pressure with his flamboyant batting.
