England’s Managing Director of Men’s Cricket, Rob Key, has claimed that India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and veteran England batter Joe Root will re-create James Anderson and Virat Kohli’s rivalry in the upcoming five-match Test series between England and India, starting on June 20.

However, many big names like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin have announced retirements from the longer format as well. On the other hand, England will be without their legendary pace duo of James Anderson and Stuart Broad as well. However, Rob Key has backed Bumrah and Root to recreate the interesting battle between Kohli and Anderson.

ALSO READ: “He is the most successful Indian Test captain” – Aakash Chopra on Virat Kohli

“I watch the young Indian players coming through. I believe that with the talent I see in white-ball cricket, even in the IPL, talented players can adapt much easier than people think. You don’t need to have played 50-100 red-ball games to be able to put your best foot forward in Test cricket. And those rivalries will emerge. You’ve got probably one of our best players, if not the best — Joe Root — against one of the best bowlers I’ve seen in Bumrah. So that’s going to be a fascinating contest,” Rob Key was quoted as saying by the Times of India.

Jasprit Bumrah has an advantage over Root throughout his career, having dismissed him nine times in Tests so far as well. Hence, Bumrah will look to continue his dominance against Root. Furthermore, Rob Key also expressed his excitement about watching Jamie Smith and Rishabh Pant play as well.

“Rishabh Pant and Jamie Smith, those two wicketkeepers that play in such a captivating style, have the ability to throw counter punches,” he concluded.