Cook versus Ashwin, Root versus Jadeja

On their last three tours to Asia - India (2012), UAE (2015) and Bangladesh (2016) - England's best batsmen were Alastair Cook and Joe Root. Cook has been way ahead of his peers scoring 1101 runs from 17 innings at an average of 73.42 while Root has 478 runs with an average of 47.80. Together they are likely to be the mainstays of England's batting line-up in India.

Since England's tour in 2012, India have been on a roll at home, winning 12 out of 13 Tests against Australia, West Indies, South Africa and New Zealand. The game they didn't win was a rain-affected draw against South Africa in Bangalore. The chief architects of these victories were the spinners, who took 191 out of 242 wickets in these 13 Tests. R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja contributed 66% of the total wickets in this period (160 out of 242). Ashwin, especially, has also been outstanding against top opposition batsmen, with 63 wickets of batsmen in the top five.

Given the inexperience of the rest of England's top order in Asian conditions, the onus will be on Cook and Root to lead the way and show that India's spinners can be conquered in India. And, given how England struggled with the ball turning away from the bat in their two-Test series in Bangladesh last month, two of the key battles of the series could well be the left-handed Cook against the offspin of Ashwin, and Root the right-hander against Jadeja's slow left-arm.

Cook amassed an incredible 562 runs with three centuries. That included 422 runs off spinners, by whom he was dismissed five times; against Ashwin, he made 221 runs from 510 balls and was dismissed on four occasions, for an average of 55.25. Over the last three tours to Asia, Cook has fallen to spin 14 times in 17 innings, nine times to offspinners. His overall average against spinners is more than 55, but against offspin it dips slightly to 43.67. In these three series, only two bowlers have generally had the better of him - Yasir Shah and Mehedi Hasan. Both bowlers have dismissed him three times each, with Yasir conceding 48 runs and Mehedi 43.

While his overall average against offspin is fairly healthy, Cook was unusually vulnerable against Mehedi, especially early in his innings. On two occasions, Cook was dismissed by Mehedi before he faced 25 balls, which suggests Ashwin could be pressed into service early against him, especially given that the England captain has been assured against pace in Asia. Ashwin, too, has been outstanding with the new ball in the last 18 months, more so against left-handers.

Joe Root has been England's best batsman in the last four years, and the only one to average more than 50 in this period. Root has played only one Test in India, making 73 on debut in Nagpur, but in six Tests in Asia, he averages a healthy 47.80.

Over the last four years, though, no England batsman has got out to left-arm spin in Tests as often as Root: he has been dismissed nine times, while the next highest is six. Root's overall average against left-arm spin is 62, but in Asia it drops to 38.75.

Of the nine times he has got out to left-arm spin, Root has been lbw five times. Of those five instances, three times he has been dismissed within the first 20 balls. With an ability to bowl flat and quick, Jadeja could target this mode of dismissal. Jadeja has 64 wickets in India, of which 50 have been right-handers, with nine lbw wickets. His average against right-hand batsmen is 15.88, an indication that he could well be India's key weapon to negate Root.

The two have played each other in Tests, but in England on pitches that didn't offer much help to spinners. Even in those conditions, Jadeja did fairly well, conceding only 93 from 287 balls and dismissing Root twice. Jadeja may fancy his chances in more favourable conditions but Root's organised technique and sound judgement of length could make this a fascinating contest.