India vs England: Player Face-Offs - Ravichandran Ashwin vs Eoin Morgan
Ravichandran Ashwin will pose the biggest danger to the England captain Eoin Morgan in the ODI series while the latter will be crucial to the visitors' cause when it comes to putting runs on the board.
Highlights
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England will play 3 ODIs against India
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The first ODI will be played in Pune on January 15
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The series will be followed by 3 T20Is
Ravichandran Ashwin is the current World No.1 in the ICC rankings for Test bowlers. However, the Indian spinner has played just two ODIs in the past year. England captain Eoin Morgan too has failed to impress with the bat, averaging 29.81 in 15 ODI matches played in the last 12 months. Ashwin and Morgan will play a massive role in the outcome of the series and here is a look at how the two cricketers match up. Their success, or the lack of it, may have a telling impact on the ODI series.
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Ashwin was the destroyer-in-chief for India in the recently-concluded Test series between India and England, which the hosts won 4-0. He took 28 wickets in five matches with a best of 6/55.
He created huge problems for the English batsmen, and along with Ravindra Jadeja, was one of the main reasons behind India's resounding win over the tourists.
However, limited-overs cricket is a whole different ball game and India's premier spinner has not had many opportunities in the past year to show his prowess in the shorter formats.
Ashwin last played an ODI for India in January 2016 against Australia Down Under. Two matches in 2016 have yielded just two wickets for him. Ashwin was given a rest from the ODI series when New Zealand came visiting.
Meanwhile, in T20Is, Ashwin has 23 scalps to his name in 17 matches played in the past year with his best performance (4/8) coming against Sri Lanka at Visakhapatnam in February.
Ashwin would surely be looking to do better in the limited overs series against England but the man who has the ability to stop him in his tracks is Morgan.
Morgan, though, hasn't had a successful year according to his standards. He has played 15 ODI matches where he has scored 328 runs at an average 29.81. He failed to score even a single century in that period with a best score of 68.
However, Morgan has the experience to turn it around quickly and his participation in the Indian Premier League over the years will hold him in good stead in India this time around.
In T20Is too, Morgan has failed to impress in the past year, scoring 175 runs in 10 matches at an average of 21.87 with a high score of 47 not out.