India vs England, 4th Test: Likely XI for visitors

After losing two Tests on the trot in the ongoing tour, Alastair Cook and his England team will seek resurgence as they face hosts India in the fourth Test at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai starting Thursday. While a victory is must for the visitors to raise hopes of ending the series in a draw, they will have to take field without Haseeb Hameed who suffered a wrist injury during last match. Stuart Broad has also not recovered fully according to reports and these will be the matter of concern for England ahead of the contest against a dominant India, who have found a perfect replacement for their only unfit player Wriddhiman Saha in Parthiv Patel.

England squandered their chance to put up a big score on the board after winning toss at Mohali and batting first. They were bowled out for a poor 283, which their captain Alastair Cook said were not enough to challenge India. On their part, India went on to post 417, thus taking a massive 134-run lead which proved to be too many. In the second innings, England were bundled out for 236 and scoring 104 runs looked like a cakewalk for the in-form Indian batsmen who eventually won the match by 8 wickets.

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Full Cricket Scorecard: India vs England 4th Test at Mumbai

According to reports, the Wankhede wicket is expected to be a ‘bald’, dry pitch for the fourth Test. A Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) insider revealed to The Times of India, “The wicket will be normal. It won’t turn on the first day and it can slowly start turning (assisting spin) from day three. We are watering as per the usual procedure. There was a little dew factor that we had to take into consideration and have done watering accordingly. Because of the dew, we watered it less.”

On a turning track, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja will be the two most feared by England batsmen who have not been able to display anything extraordinary as compared to the hosts’ performances. Here is the likely XI that Alastair Cook can take the field with for the fourth Test.

Top-order: Hameed, who has been England’s first-choice opener to pair up with Cook to open batting, will not be available and will be replaced by uncapped Keaton Jennings for the Test. With consistent performance recently in First-Class cricket (including a double-hundred for England Lions recently), Jennings will be the centre of attraction.

READ: IND vs ENG 4th Test: Likely XI for hosts

About him, Cook told BBC, “He is in good touch, has spent some time in the middle for the Lions — making a hundred — and it is a very special day for him on Thursday.”

Cook will be expected to lead the side from the front and provide a good start. At No. 3, there is Joe Root who already has a century and two half-centuries on the tour and has been impressive as usual. If the top-order manages to spend more time at the crease, England will have a great opportunity to be able to put up runs on the board.

Middle-order: The best part of the current England squad is a deep batting side which they can come up with. The top order is followed by the likes of Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler in the middle. Moeen has played at almost every position in the line-up and the upcoming Test brings him a chance to shine with the willow. Bairstow and Stokes will be expected to make more contributions with the bat Buttler was ordinary with the bat in the third Test wherein he played as a specialist batsman, and if given a chance the right-hander will want to get among runs ahead of the limited-overs leg of the tour.

Lower-order: While the bowling will be spearheaded by James Anderson, concern remains regarding the fitness of Broad who has been pivotal in strengthening the pace-attack. England have had only one Test so far in which both their premier bowlers played together. Chris Woakes will be England’s third seamer, while Stokes will complete the fast-bowling squad. The most crucial contribution though will be from the spinners. Adil Rashid has proved to be the most successful for the visitors and Moeen will be the second spinner.

READ: India vs England 4th Test: Preview 

England can contemplate replacing Gareth Batty with Liam Dawson, who brings the option of being the third spinner as well as a batsman who can be placed in the lower-middle-order for more runs. He is coming off the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and has relevant experience of playing in subcontinent conditions.

England likely XI: Alastair Cook (c), Keaton Jennings, Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid, James Anderson.

(Paulami Chakraborty, a singer, dancer, artist, and photographer, loves the madness of cricket and writes about the game. She can be followed on Twitter at @Polotwitts)