England won the toss and opted to bat first against Team India in the fourth Test of the five-match series at JCA Cricket Stadium Complex in Ranchi on Friday, February 23.
England already announced their playing on the eve of the Ranchi Test. The visitors dropped Mark Wood and Rehan Ahmed for Ollie Robinson and Shoaib Bashir, respectively. Robinson to play the first match of the series while Bashir was dropped in the last Test.
Veteran pacer James Anderson is likely to lead the pace bowling attack. The 41-year-old is just four wickets away from completing 700 Test wickets. Joe Root retained his place in the team despite a poor run of form and criticism over his shot selection in the ongoing Test series.
India made a couple of changes to their playing XI. Since Jasprit Bumrah was rested from the Ranchi Test, the hosts brought in Mukesh Kumar. Akash Deep received his maiden Test cap and became the 313th player to represent Team India in Test Cricket. In the last match, Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel were the 311th and 312nd players to play for India in whites.
Apart from Jasprit Bumrah, India are without the services of KL Rahul as he was ruled out of the fourth Test as he is yet to recover from injury.
India and England Playing XI
ENG: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (C), Ben Foakes (WK), Tom Hartley, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson, Shoaib Bashir
IND: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(C), Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel(WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj
Captains' Corner
Ben Stokes: 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 us an idea about how the pitch will play, 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.
Rohit Sharma: We would have batted first as well. Looks a 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 squad, they've taken the responsibility and have taken the challenge head-on. They are confident in their skills, moving forward it's a good thing. One change with Akash Deep making his debut.
