Team India will aim to take an unassailable lead in the five-match series as they square off against England for the fourth Test today at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi.
Despite a dismal show in the opening game, India came roaring back in the second and third Test to establish a 2-1 lead in the home series. The hosts will look to continue the winning momentum in the next game, where they will miss the services of Jasprit Bumrah, who the BCCI has rested for the fourth Test to manage his workload.
The coin was tossed up in the air for the fourth time in this series. England won the toss and opted to bat first.
FOLLOW LIVE HERE: IND vs ENG, 4th Test Day 1 Live Score
The visitors have already announced their playing XI and have made two changes – Rehan Ahmed and Mark Wood were dropped with Ollie Robinson getting his first Test of the series and a return for Shoaib Bashir.
On the other side, for India, we do have a debutant confirmed with Akash Deep being handed his maiden Test cap by Rahul Dravid. He’s the 313th player to play Test cricket for India.
Eyes will be on opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has already registered two double-centuries in this series. One of them came in the last match where India notched a dominant 434-run win.
Captain’s Comments
Rohit Sharma (India): We would have batted first as well. Looka bit dry and has some cracks, but that’s the nature of the pitch here. The last two games were good for us and we’ll have to play in the same way. Proud of a lot of young guys in the squid, they’ve taken the responsibilityand have taken the challenge head-on. They are confident in their skills, moving forward, it’s a good thing for us going forward. One change with Akash Deep making his debut.
Ben Stokes (England): We will bat first. 2-1 down, a bit more important in the context of the series, but every game is important. The first one hour will give an idea about how the pitch will pl;ay, but it was always going to be a bat-first track. My bowling is coming off well, it’s been a long time coming. I’m happy with the way we’ve operated throughout the series and looking forward to more of the same.
Playing XIs
India
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj
England
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes(c), Ben Foakes(w), Tom Hartley, Ollie Robinson, Shoaib Bashir, James Anderson
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