England cricket team skipper Joe Root has announced his team for the 4th Test match against India starting at the Ageas Bowl on Thursday.
Sam Curran, 20, has made a comeback after getting dropped from the 3rd Test. Curran will replace Chris Woakes, who is struggling with a thigh problem. English all-rounder Moeen Ali will play his first Test match of this series. He will replace Ollie Pope.
After a couple of morale-crushing defeats in the first two Tests (31 runs at Edgbaston) and (innings defeat at the Lord’s), Virat Kohli’s men produced a splendid all-round performance to win the third Test in Nottingham by 203 runs.
While India still trail 1-2 in the five-match series, there are fears that Kohli’s team might just emulate Sir Don Bradman’s Australia that won the 1936 Ashes after being 0-2 down.
Surprisingly, this will only be the third Test at the Rose Bowl Stadium.
The hosts will count on that previous win to boost confidence and close out the series, albeit given their most recent performance it will be a tough ask.
With the Indian pacers exposing the frailties in England top-order, the teams will be on even keel with Kohli bracing for another big knock after his 97 and 103 in a winning cause at the Trent Bridge.
The pacers have accounted for 38 out of 46 wickets in these series so far, following on the heels of their good showing in South Africa.
With a green-top laid out for this fourth Test, India will once again count on their troika of pacers, backed by Hardik Pandya, who amply proved his bowling worth in the previous game.
England had previously played Sri Lanka (2011) and India (2014), winning the latter game by 266 runs.
England cricket team for the fourth Test: Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Joe Root (c), Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (w), Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.
-With PTI inputs.