India vs England – “Maybe, maybe not”: Ben Stokes on availability as a bowler in Ranchi Test | cricket news

Bowling at full tilt in the nets has raised hopes of Ben Stokes progressing into the fourth Test against India, but the England captain preferred to maintain suspense over his availability as a bowler in Ranchi on Thursday. Stokes has played only as a batsman since the second Ashes Test last June due to his knee problem. However, he was seen bowling extensively in the nets on the eve of the fourth Test. Asked about the possibility of him bowling in the match, Stokes said, “No, I think it’s possible, maybe not.” Stokes said going in with two fast bowlers is the best option for England, leading him to include the tall Ollie Robinson in the playing eleven, although the Ranchi pitch is likely to help the spinners.

“Bringing in Robbo (Robinson) gives us good options, especially considering this wicket,” Stokes said in the pre-match media interaction.

“I think the spin will help, but I also think having two seamers gives us a good chance because of Ollie Robinson’s release height and his consistency with his fields.”

The 30-year-old Robinson, who last played in the Ashes, comes in at the expense of Mark Wood, while Shoaib Bashir replaces leg spinner Rehan Ahmed.

“You look at the player that Mark is, especially with the ball, you want someone who works 100 percent.

“His number one skill is how fast he bowls and the effort he put in last week was fantastic. You want to be able to keep players like that on the field at that level.”

“We like to look at the pitch two days in and a day out, because that’s how we like to pick our XI. You want to give yourself some idea or some indication of which XI you think will give you the best chance.

“Looking at him, I think there’s going to be help for spin, but I also think it’s someone like Bash (Bashir), who releases the ball with such a high release point, the extra bounce he gets. “We think that’s going to bring us more into the game.”

‘Don’t guess too much about the pitch beforehand’

Adding spice to the discussion on the Ranchi pitch, Stokes said that he has not seen anything like the 22-yard strip here in the past. But he also said it is not fair to have “preconceived ideas” about the pitch.

“We are asked about the pitch and we give our opinion, but that doesn’t mean we’re going in with a lot of preconceived ideas. The pitch could be as flat as a pancake, who knows.”

“If it does, we’ll embrace it. If it works better than we thought, we’ll embrace that too. We’re not going to let those conversations factor into what we do.” England have retained veteran warrior James Anderson, who is seven years away from reaching the historic mark of 700 wickets and becoming the first fast bowler to achieve the feat.

The 41-year-old bowled 73 overs and took six wickets in two matches in the series.

“If you’re a young fast bowler, Jimmy Anderson is the guy you want to be your idol. Not just the number of wickets he’s taken but the fact that he can keep going even at this age.

“Especially in the last two years, he has also introduced new ways of operating. We have seen him commit to bowling bouncers, we have seen him bowling around the wickets to right-handed batsmen when situations require it. If it exists then use skill.

He concluded, “Even saying that as a fast bowler getting close to 700 wickets is incredible, but I don’t think that’s going to be uppermost in his mind this week, just because of where we are in the series.” Are.”

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