England v Pakistan ODI series: Five players to watch out for

Following what was an epic battle for supremacy in the Test series, Pakistan and England will now battle for the bragging rights in the upcoming ODI series that will begin on the 24th of August. Although Pakistan may well be the best Test team in the world at the moment, it is clear that their One-Day and T20I teams are on the verge of being quite shambolic. In spite of a 1-0 win in the ODI series against Ireland, it is clear that Pakistan will have to play out of their skin to secure a win in the limited-overs’ series. 1. Sharjeel Khan Pakistan’s Sharjeel Khan (R) celebrates with team mate Babar Azam. (Photo by PAUL FAITH/AFP/Getty Images) The left-handed opening batsman has not played an awful lot of international cricket for Pakistan. However, in his first match in the first ODI of the series against Ireland at Malahide, Sharjeel stole headlines with a wonderfully compiled 152 of just 85 deliveries. While that is certainly a feat in itself, it ensures that Sharjeel has indeed cemented his place in the side. Sharjeel Khan exudes the old-fashioned opening batsman, something that has not been seen since the days of Saeed Anwar, Sourav Ganguly, Sanath Jayasuriya, and perhaps even Adam Gilchrist for that matter. His blast while opening the innings, if consistent, could very well see him become Pakistan’s primary opener in the years to come. In the context of the series, however, it is clear that Sharjeel will have an important role to play. He will be tasked with laying the foundations for the innings and will be expected to score more tons like the one against Ireland. 2. Wahab Riaz Pakistan’s Wahab Riaz. (Photo credit GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images) Wahab Riaz is quite clearly Pakistan’s senior-most bowler at the moment. The 31-year old is an important part of the side irrespective of the fact that he makes an impact or not. His experience is something that most of his captains generally go after. In the final Test of the series at Old Trafford, with Pakistan’s backs against the wall, Wahab answered his captain’s call and came up with the goods with some supremely consistent bowling over the five days of perhaps the most dramatic of Test matches in recent times. Although Wahab has had some spells in recent times where he has backed the batsman into a corner, it is clear that he does not do it as consistently as his captain or his side would like. ‘The Big Bad Wolf’ as he is known will be hoping to strike soon. 3. Jake Ball Jake Ball during England nets session. (Photo by Mitchell Gunn/Getty Images) Jake Ball was roped in as a replacement for James Anderson when the latter was ruled out with an injury. In spite of Anderson’s return in the following Test, the England management hung on to Ball with Steven Finn struggling to get his head in the right place. Now, with a hand injury to England’s premier limited-overs’ bowler David Willey, Jake Ball will be given a second bite at the cherry that is international cricket. Ball has impressed with his bowling in the domestic circuit, especially the NatWest T20 Blast for the Northants. In a nutshell, England will be hoping that Jake Ball can deputize for Willey and repay the faith shown in him by the selectors in the upcoming ODI series against Pakistan. 4. Ben Stokes England cricketer Ben Stokes. (Photo credit PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images) England all-rounder Ben Stokes has been plagued by injury in recent times ever since that fateful night at the Eden Gardens in the World T20 in March. An injury in the first Test against Sri Lanka in the first Test saw Stokes reduced to helping and teaching women the art of taking selfies. Stokes also went on to suffer an injury upon his return in the second Test against Pakistan at Old Trafford. However, MRI scans went on to reveal that Stokes would eventually be required to take a part only in the ODI series. That said, Stokes will be looking to reprise his role in the upcoming series against Pakistan where he will be expected to bowl 10 overs per match as well as smash 50 runs. 5. Umar Gul Umar Gul of Pakistan. (Photo credit MICHAEL BRADLEY/AFP/Getty Images) Pakistan pacer Umar Gul is one of the many Pakistan pacers who will be making a comeback to the grand scheme of things for Pakistan. The 32-year old will be looking to make an impact with the ball upon his return. In the grander scheme of things, Gul’s addition will certainly be a shot in the arm for one and all who will be watching the series closely. He will be expected to provide support to the likes of Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz. It seems to be a blur from the time when Umar Gul was the spearhead of the Pakistani pace attack. However, since the close of the 2007 World T20, it seemed as though that he had fallen off the pace for a wee bit. Now that he is back in action, it remains to be seen if he can indeed have a profound impact. Also read: Watch: ‘Absolute genius plan’ of Rahul Dravid to dismiss Kamran Akmal

Topics

Featured Section

Current Series

IPL 2025 Auction

IPL Teams

Cricket Fantasy Tips

Cricket Stats

ICC Rankings

Interviews

Twitter Reactions

Cricket Appeal

Social Tracker

More Links

# Follow Us

Other Sports

England v Pakistan ODI series: Five players to watch out for

3. Jake Ball

Latest Articles

Dickwella cleared to play all formats of cricket

Women's U19 Asia Cup: India announce 15-member squad

Nortje ruled out of remaining PAK T20Is due to a toe injury.