🏏 India vs England, 4th Test-- JSCA Stadium Complex, Ranchi 🏏

🏏 India vs England, 4th Test-- JSCA Stadium Complex, Ranchi 🏏 

The fourth Test of the five-match series between England (ENG) and India (IND) will be played at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi today. 

India, who are currently 2-1 up in the series, will be keen to take an unassailable lead by winning the penultimate Test. The hosts will be high on confidence after winning the last match by a mammoth margin of 434 runs.

England, meanwhile, played well in the first before getting overpowered by India in the next two matches. The visitors will be desperate to keep the series alive. 

Ben Stokes has already admitted that he's "never seen" anything like the pitch being prepared for the fourth Test in Ranchi, and how he has "no idea" what's going to happen. 

Ollie Pope called the surface "interesting" and pointed out how "platey" and crumbly it was two days out from the start of the match. 

The England vice-captain went as far as suggesting the end from which R Ashwin could bowl, for there's a visible rough outside the right-hander's off-stump at one of the ends. Vikram Rathour, on the other hand, felt it was a "typical" Indian wicket that would take turn, but he wasn't sure when that would start happening.

That's the thing with Ranchi - the pitch here has looked worse than it has played. When Australia arrived here in 2017, they were alarmed by the dark shade of the black-soil pitch and the even darker wet patches it bore. 

But the match finished in a dull draw, with the over-rolled pitch failing to break up even on the final day. Then came the 2019 Test, which dished up another flat deck that remained good for batting across four days. "Bhaad me gaya pitch (to hell with the pitches)," the then coach Ravi Shastri had said after India's innings win at the time.

Five years on, the pitch here would again be the least of the headaches for India. They would be more focused on how to make up for the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, who genuinely has been the difference between the sides in this series and the reason why India could afford to play on good batting pitches and not put their young batters to the sword. 

How the bowling unit levels up in the absence of their spearhead will be crucial. Luckily, they have a precedent from only last week when R Ashwin had to fly back home to attend to a family emergency.

Let us wish for a good win here so that India will be able to win the series comfortably. 

The beauty of the Ranchi stadium: 

JSCA International Stadium in Ranchi is a very aesthetically built venue, with first-world charms unlike anywhere else in India. There's a white picket fence going around the ground to go with the two mini grass banks and an old-world manual scoreboard. 

The cooler climes owing to the altitude of this city only add to the narrative and England couldn't be faulted for feeling at home here in the last couple of days. But zoom into the centre of the ground and that's where the picture gets a little bit murky for the visitors.

Five years on, the pitch here would again be the least of the headaches for India. They would be more focused on how to make up for the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, who genuinely has been the difference between the sides in this series and the reason why India could afford to play on good batting pitches and not put their young batters to the sword. 

How the bowling unit levels up in the absence of their spearhead will be crucial. Luckily, they have a precedent from only last week when R Ashwin had to fly back home to attend to a family emergency.

Pitch Report

The pitch at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi aids spinners more than pacers. Batting in the first innings is usually considered better on this pitch. India and South Africa played a Test at the venue back in 2019, with the hosts winning the match by an innings and 202 runs.

What to expect: A bit of spin from Pitch No.4. How much and from what point in the game are anybody's guesses. The previous two Tests here were played on the same strip and the common thread between the two surfaces was how batting-friendly they were. But it doesn't mean that fast bowlers will be redundant. Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Pat Cummins and Kagiso Rabada have all been among the wickets here. 

ENG vs IND Probable Playing XI

ENG Playing XI

No injury updates.

Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, James Anderson, Mark Wood.

IND Playing XI

Jasprit Bumrah and KL Rahul are unavailable for today's match.

Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj.

A win in Ranchi will give India yet another series win at home, extending their unbeaten streak since the 2012-13 season. Incidentally, England was the victorious side on that occasion and there's no reason why the current lot can't come close to that. 

The visitors have already played two great individual innings with the bat on this tour but unfortunately have failed to put India under the kind of series deficit that those knocks probably merited. It was down to the inexperience of their bowling side, who are far removed from the experience of the Swanns and the Panesars. 

But a turning pitch that England foresee here does bring the Bashirs and the Hartleys into the equation, and how England maximize that and make the most of Bumrah's absence will go a long way in deciding the match and the series.

Wicketkeeper

Ben Foakes

Ben Foakes is no doubt the best wicketkeeper pick for today's match as he is expected to perform well. Dhruv Jurel is another good pick for the fourth Test.

Batters

Yashasvi Jaiswal

Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal are the two best batter picks for the Dream11 team. Both the top-order batters played exceptionally well in the last match. Ben Duckett is also a good pick for today's Dream11 fantasy team.

All-rounders

Ravindra Jadeja

Joe Root and Ravindra Jadeja are the best all-rounder picks for the Dream11 team as they can contribute effectively on all fronts. Ravichandran Ashwin is another good pick for the match.

Bowlers

Tom Hartley

The top bowler picks for the game are Kuldeep Yadav and Tom Hartley. Both have played well in the last few matches. Mohammad Siraj is another good pick for the Dream11 team.

Thanks for the tag 💙. Forgot it is today...

England vs India Match Expert Tips

As the pitch is expected to be good for batters and spinners, it is advisable to make a team keeping that in mind. Making in-form players the captain or vice-captain is the best way to gain maximum points and win grand leagues.

Best performers to watch-- 

Wicketkeeper: B Foakes

Batters: S Gill, Y Jaiswal, S Khan

All-rounders: R Ashwin, R Jadeja, J Root, A Patel

Bowlers: K Yadav, T Hartley, R Ahmed

The pitch, though, is definitely dry and it's evident from how bright this one looks from the last two at this venue. The black soil pitches can bear a very dark shade when watered, but this one is hay-coloured and, from a distance, very similar looking to the pitch in Vizag earlier in the series. There are cracks here but they usually don't widen for the Test; the topsoil crumbles instead.

On the eve of the match, Ashwin spent a lot of time examining the rough areas outside the right-hander's offstump at the Amitabh Chaudhary Pavilion End. On the opposite end, the MS Dhoni Pavilion End, there's a bit of rough outside the left-hander's off-stump. There will be help for the spinners from these spots.

Weather-wise, it's been overcast in the lead-up to the Test. There was even a passing shower on the match eve and more rain is expected on the scheduled third and fifth days.

Team news:

India: Who comes in for Bumrah? There was an interesting face-off between Mukesh Kumar and Akash Deep in the nets two days out from the game. Both were bowling to their captain, with Mukesh proving the more accurate of the two and Akash Deep the pacier. There's a chance India might hand a debut to Akash Deep because Mukesh didn't look his best in Visakhapatnam, his case admittedly not helped by the two geniuses in Anderson and Bumrah and the bowling clinics they put up. Mukesh, though, is coming fresh off a ten-wicket haul in the Ranji Trophy and could just have an edge.

Rajat Patidar, who made his debut in Vizag, is under a bit of pressure after scores of 32, 9, 5 and 0 in the first four innings of his Test career. He seems favourite to start but Devdutt Padikkal did spend some time at the main pitch with Ashwin, Rahul Dravid (head coach), Vikram Rathour (batting coach) and Paras Mhambrey (bowling coach) in tow on Thursday morning.