Southampton: After a commendable comeback from the brink of a series defeat, India will look to draw parity against hosts England in the fourth Test, beginning here on Friday.
After 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. England had previously played Sri Lanka (2011) and India (2014), winning the latter game by 266 runs.
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.
With the batsmen also finally coming to the party, there is little chance of tinkering with the playing XI though Virat Kohli’s propensity for change is well known, changing his team in 38 out of 45 matches.
On Tuesday, Indian pacers had a long batting stint, except Jasprit Bumrah who didn’t pad up. Instead, Umesh Yadav took his place along side Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami, hinting at a possible return, influenced by prevalent conditions.
England recall Ali, Curran England have recalled Moeen Ali and Sam Curran to replace top-order batsman Ollie Pope and all-rounder Chris Woakes, ruled out with a thigh problem.
Jos Buttler will keep wicket instead of Jonny Bairstow, with the Yorkshireman deployed as a specialist number four batsman only despite breaking a finger at Trent Bridge.
