India vs England 4th Test Preview

After three fascinating Test matches, it’s all up for grabs in the final game of the test series in Ahmedabad. The hosts will look to wrap up the series with a victory that will seal their spot in the ICC World Test Championship final in June. England on the other hand will want to play spoilsport and repeat their heroics from the first test to draw the series 2-2.

It’s #pitchwatch time again, three days out from the start of the fourth #INDvENG Test in #Ahmedabad… pic.twitter.com/naGfH9MDBf

— Brian Murgatroyd (@murgersb) March 1, 2021

After the pink ball test finished inside two days, a lot of the conversation post-game has been about the pitch. However, given the visitor’s frailties against spin, it is likely we will see a similar surface in the final test. The ball will spin from day one and the English batsman will have to forget their recent performances and find a method to score runs in such challenging conditions. England have failed to score more than 180 runs and bat for long periods since the first innings in the first Test and have struggled against Ashwin and Axar Patel in particular. They will have
to work on their footwork to counter the Indian spinners and look to commit on either front or back foot instead of being stuck in two minds at the crease.

Similarly, apart from Rohit Sharma, the Indians have also failed to cope in the spinning conditions against Jack Leach and surprisingly even Joe Root. Pujara and Kohli in particular have failed to get the big scores they would have liked in this series. The Indian captain hasn’t scored a century in international cricket since 2019 and will hope to break this unwanted streak in the final test match.

With the red ball back in use, it is unlikely that this game will be as short-lived as the third test which saw 30 wickets fall in two days. The red ball will get softer as the innings progresses which will make batting easier post the first 25 overs. Once again it will be a bat-first pitch as batting will get tougher as the game goes on and the surface wears down, but unlike the first test in Chennai, there will be enough for the bowlers to work with from ball one.

Probable XI’s
For India, Jasprit Bumrah will not be playing the final test after being released from the squad for personal reasons. He will be replaced by either Mohammed Siraj or Umesh Yadav who was added to the squad for the final two games. We might also see many changes from the England camp who erred in their selection in the third test and went in with only one specialist spinner. Stuart Broad will most likely make way for the extra spinner in Dom Bess while Daniel Lawrence might find himself back in the squad in place of either Bairstow or Ollie Pope.

India: Shubma Gill, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav

England: Zak Crawley, Dom Sibley, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Daniel Lawrence, Ben Foakes, Dom Bess, Jofra Archer, Jack Leach, James Anderson.