Fourth Test Preview: India v ENG

Cricket365
December 6, 2016

England have been thoroughly overwhelmed in this series so far but the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai would be a bad place for them to withdraw into their shells.

The wicket in Mumbai is known for producing results and the last Test played there was over inside three days, so far in this series England have failed to capitalize on footholds granted them by India.

The tourists have been forced to make two changes to their squad with Hampshire spinner Liam Dawson replacing Zafar Ansari while Durham’s Keaton Jennings replaces injured opener Haseeb Hameed.

Jennings is almost certain to debut with reserve opener Ben Duckett having fallen out of favour after a run of poor form in the middle order.

England coach Trevor Bayliss has been preaching positivity in the build up to this Test and the tourists will need this in spades.

Coupled with that positivity England will need to be more clinical both in the field where they have let far too many chances slip and with the bat where the top order have given away their wickets too cheaply.

For India it will be a simple matter of maintaining their momentum and proving they aren’t excessively reliant on Virat Kohli.

Parthiv Patel will get another opportunity to keep wicket after he ended his long exile with a solid showing in Mohali, he will more than likely drop down the order to allow Lokesh Rahul back in to open.

Ravi Ashwin has fond memories of this ground and will be keen on cementing his place as the number one Test bowler in the world.

India’s lower order have rescued them on a number of occassions in this and previous series which may cause some concern however with Cheteshwar Pujara and Kohli looking in good nick they will still be firm favourites to claim this Test and take a 3-0 lead.

Last five head-to-head results

2016 Third Test: India won by 8 wickets in Mohali
2016 Second Test: India won by 246 runs in Vizag
2016 First Test: Match drawn in Rajkot
2014 Fifth Test: England won by an innings and 244 runs at The Oval
2014 Fourth Test: England won by an innings and 54 runs in Manchester

Squads

India squad for Fourth Test: Virat Kohli (C), Parthiv Patel (WK), Ajinkya Rahane, Lokesh Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Karun Nair, Ravi Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

England: Alastair Cook, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Gareth Batty, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Steve Finn, Keaton Jennings, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes.

Details

Dates: 8-12 December

Morning session: 09:30-11:30 (04:00-06:00 GMT)
Afternoon session: 12:10-14:10 (06:40-08:40 GMT)
Evening session: 14:30-17:00 (09:00-11:00 GMT)

Umpires: Paul Reiffel and Bruce Oxenford
TV Umpire: Marais Erasmus
Match Referee: Jeff Crowe