Five batsmen who will give a tough time to Indian pacers in World Test Championship

India have absolutely dominated the World Test Championship (WTC) so far. In fact, the Virat Kohli-led side have brushed aside every opposition they’ve played. They have won every game and are well ahead of all the other teams on the points table.

One of the reasons for their success has been their fast bowlers. In the top five leading wicket-takers of this WTC, the Indian pacers occupy three spots. Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav have been absolutely brilliant and each of them have taken in excess of 20 wickets. Shami has 31 wickets while Ishant and Umesh have 25 and 23 respectively. Jasprit Bumrah has played just two Tests in the WTC and has already taken 13 wickets.

Thus, this Indian pace attack is simply getting better and is challenging every opposition they face. However, India face stiffer challenges in their upcoming WTC assignments. They travel to New Zealand in early 2020 and go back to Australia late next year for a four-match Test series before finishing up with England at home in a five-Test rubber.

Here we look at five batsmen who could give Indian pacers a tough time in the WTC:

Ben Stokes

When you look at Ben Stokes’ batting record against India in Test cricket, it doesn’t look great. In 11 games, he has scored 545 runs at a mediocre average of 27.25. However, Stokes has come a long way in the recent past and has improved as a batsman big time as well.

This year, Stokes has been at his best with the bat. He has made 746 runs at an average of nearly 50 and has been by far, England’s best bet with the bat in Test cricket. He had a phenomenal Ashes series and was England’s lone ranger on quite a few occasions.

England tour India in early 2021 in what would be their last series of the World Test Championship and Stokes will be the key in the middle order. The last time he was in India, he scored 345 runs at an average of 38.33. Moreover, he has the ability to counter the Indian pace threat as well. He defied the Aussie quicks beautifully and can do the same against the relentless Indian pace attack.