IND Vs ENG: India and England will face off in the fourth match of this five-match series. This contest will be played at JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi from tomorrow Friday, 23rd February 2024 to Tuesday, 27th February 2024.
The toss time is at 9 AM Indian Standard Time (IST) and Local Time, 3.30 AM GMT. The fourth match between IND Vs ENG will start at 9.30 AM Indian Standard Time (IST) and Local, 4 AM GMT.
JioCinema mobile application will have the live streaming services, while Sports Network 18 will bring the commentary in English and Colors Cineplex will be offering a commentary in Hindi. These two channels can be seen on the Television sets in India.
In this five-match Test series, England is down with a margin of 1-2. They lost the third match in Rajkot by a heavy margin of runs.
Now to make a comeback in this series, Ben Stokes and Co will have to outplay the home side in all three departments of this game.
Their approach of BAZBALL went wrong in the last Test, which is why they managed only 122 runs in the second innings of the third Test match and that too while they were asked to chase down a daunting score of 557 runs to win that game.
Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow should fire in the last two red ball matches of this five-match series. The reports also say that Ben Stokes might bowl in the 4th match. If Stokesy really does that then that would be a great boost for the visitors.
England's premier pace bowler James Anderson went for runs. It was India's Yashaswi Jaiswal who smashed him for three sixes in an over, which has been a rare sight, especially against a fast bowler like Anderson, who is generally good with the red cherry in hand.
Mark Wood was the only positive for England in that Test match. Gus Atkinson can replace the champion bowler, James Anderson for the 4th match.
Joe Root’s form is also a worry for them. Daniel Lawrence can be the batter who can replace Joe Root.
But replacing Root would cause another problem. Joe is a handy spinner as well and if England drops him than they will be one spinner short. So in this case they can drop Ben Foakes, who has been good behind the stumps but he hasn’t fired with the bat in the three Test matches played till now in this series,
Bairstow who is also a keeper can replace Foakes behind the stumps. In this way, England can bring back Shoaib Bashir in their playing eleven.
Ollie Pope can be another wicketkeeping option for the visitors and Ollie Robinson can be another choice for the replacement of 41-year fast bowler Jimmy Anderson.
India on the other hand will look to extend their winning run and the momentum in this series. After their loss in the first Test match in Hyderabad, the Men in Blue have bounced back well in Visakhapatnam and India also registered their biggest wins in terms of runs in Test matches in Rajkot.
According to the reports, Akash Deep might make his debut tomorrow in place of Jasprit Bumrah who is rested for the fourth Test match. Mohammed Siraj will be the leader of the Indian pace battery tomorrow. India can go with a change.
They can bring back Axar Patel in the place of Rajat Patidar, who hasn’t made any impressions like how well Sarfraz Khan or Dhruv Jurel have played in their debut match.
Washing Sundar is also an option which can be looked at. The players like Axar or Sundar can provide depth in the batting order and also be an extra bowling option when it will be needed for the team cause.
The Men in Blue shouldn’t make the mistake of taking this England team lightly even after they won two back-to-back matches.
India - Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Sarfaraz Khan, Axar Patel/Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel(wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj and Mukesh Kumar/Akash Deep.
England - Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root/Daniel Lawrence, Jonny Bairstow(wk), Ben Stokes(c), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, Sohaib Bashir and Gus Atkinson/Ollie Robinson.
Batters – Ben Duckett, Ben Stokes and Sarfaraz Khan
Bowlers – Kuldeep Yadav, Mark Wood and Ravindra Jadeja
All-rounders – Ravichandran Ashwin and Rehan Ahmed
Wicket-keeper – Dhruv Jurel
Vice-captain – Tom Hartley
Captain – Rohit Sharma