IND vs ENG Ranchi Test: Confident India faced a selection dilemma; England aim to bounce back in potential series-decider cricket news

The absence of fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah is a concern, but a determined and adaptable India will have to overcome England’s seemingly shallow ‘buzzball’ approach when the two sides meet in the potentially series-deciding fourth Test starting in Ranchi on Friday. Will gain advantage against. From the dry heat of Rajkot to the much cooler confines of Ranchi, the change in temperatures will be the only soothing factor for the English, who have let it slip against the resilient hosts and are trailing 1-2. Eyeing a 17th consecutive series win on home soil, India are virtually unbeaten since their crushing defeat to Alastair Cook’s England in 2012. After that, India have won 38 out of 47 Tests, and have lost only three times (two Tests each versus Australia and England) when the challenge is on home soil.

Captaining a weak batting line-up in the absence of Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and out-of-form Shreyas Iyer, Rohit Sharma has found answers from the youngsters, whose performances have been the standout in the series so far.

Be it Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has maintained an impressive average of 109 with a total of 545 runs, or Sarfaraz Khan, who ended his long wait for a Test debut with a blistering 62 off 66 balls in Rajkot, or Dheere- Shubman Gill is slowly becoming stable. At No. 3, India’s next generation of batsmen are showing how to make a seamless transition.

As far as replacing Bumrah, who has been the top wicket-taker (17) in the series, in which the spinners were expected to dominate, it could be a tricky situation for India in Ranchi. Bumrah has been rested after bowling more than 80 overs in the last three Test matches.

His reverse-swing mastery during his six-wicket burst on the second day of the Vizag Test was the biggest contributing factor to the 106-run victory that leveled the series 1-1.

Even on the soft wicket of Rajkot, Bumrah led India to important breakthroughs.

Keeping in mind the intense conditions in Dharamsala for the fifth Test and the busy IPL season ahead, Bumrah has been given a break, leaving Mohammed Siraj as the only experienced fast bowler in the line-up.

There will be a fight for the second fast bowler’s spot in Ranchi between Bengal pair Mukesh Kumar and uncapped Akash Deep.

Mukesh, who took his career-best 10 wickets in Ranji Trophy, is not only more experienced but he has also formed a partnership with Bumrah in the Vizag Test. However, he bowled only 12 overs in both innings and took one wicket.

It remains to be seen whether the Indian think-tank will take the gamble of giving him another debut cap or stick with Mukesh, who has been average so far.

History suggests that the JSCA Stadium pitch will follow the plan of two seamers and three spinners.

England included off-spinner Shoaib Bashir along with Tom Hartley in place of leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed.

They have another off-spin option in the form of part-time Joe Root, who has had more overs (107) than runs (77) in this series.

India, on the other hand, have preferred the traditional two-pacer-three-spinner combination and it is unlikely that Axar Patel will be recalled. It is expected that the team will stick to Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja.

Historically, the Ranchi pitch has proved to be confusing for visiting teams.

In the last Test here in 2019, South Africa were stunned by the pair of Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, who shared 10 wickets between them, while the spin trio of Ashwin, Jadeja and Shahbaz Nadeem took eight wickets.

“It has never been a rank-turner. The pitch will be beautiful to bat on for the first two days and will help spin from the third day onwards. History should repeat itself,” the local groundsman told PTI.

For a ‘buzzball’ inspired England, the win in Hyderabad has become a distant memory and a repeat of 2021 when India bounced back to win the four-Test series 3-1 looks likely.

England’s so-called aggressive ‘baseball’ approach has come under criticism after their record 434-run defeat in Rajkot. It seems he has found a match in India after tasting success against New Zealand, South Africa and Pakistan and to some extent Australia.

The go-for-stroke style may have helped players like Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, who swung their bats for a brilliant 153 in Rajkot, but it has also ruined players like Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow.

Root was seen as their main batsman to deal with the spin challenge but the way he reverse-scooped Bumrah in Rajkot showed the condition he is in.

The desperation to find a way can be gauged from the fact that captain Ben Stokes is accelerating his recovery from a knee injury by choosing to bowl in the nets ahead of the fourth Test.

The pace attack will once again be led by James Anderson and he will partner Ollie Robinson, who has been brought in in place of Mark Wood.

Teams: India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Devdutt Padikkal, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep.

England XI: Ben Stokes (captain), Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Shoaib Bashir, Ben Fox, Tom Hartley, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson.

The match will start at 9.30 am (IST).

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)