England vs India 2018, Fourth Test: India's Predicted Playing XI
Indian cricket team were humiliated by hosts England in the first two Tests of the five-match series held. But the visitors countered the hosts from the first day of the third Test after being put in to bat first by England skipper Joe Root. The match was completed on the fifth day, with India winning the match by emphatic 203 runs.
In the reciprocal version of the previous Test, when none of the Indian batsmen managed to score a half-century, the Indian batsmen came out thrashing at the English bowlers with 60-run opening stand between Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul, which was later carried forward with impressive half-centuries by Kohli and Pujara as India finished at 329 in first innings.
After the batsmen, the onus was now on bowlers to prove their fate and they dominated from start to finish as English team bundled out for paltry 161 runs thanks to incredible five-fer by Hardik Pandya. With the lead of 168, Indian batsmen once again started their innings with same enthusiasm as in first innings courtesy hundred by skipper Kohli as they declared their innings at 352/7. Leaving England with a record 521to chase down in the final innings.
While England survived the tricky nine overs without losing any wickets at 23/0 on ay three, But they lost the wicket of Keaton Jennings (13) in the very first over of fourth day four bowled by Ishant Sharma. Then Alastair Cook (17) followed him in Sharma's next over. After that Buttler and Stokes build up a crucial 169-run partnership to bring some respite for England.
At that moment match seems getting out of India's way. But comeback man Bumrah removed Buttler (106) and Bairstow on consecutive deliveries to bring India back in the game and went further to bring up his five-fer with the wicket of Stuart Broad before Adil Rashid took England chase to the final day. On the fifth day, it took exactly 10 minutes to get the final wicket of the game, with Anderson being final victim.
After the conclusion of the third Test, Selectors revealed India's 18 men for the fourth and fifth Test. Murali Vijay and Kuldeep Yadav were dropped from the squad after their disappointing campaign and replaced by Prithvi Shaw and Hanuma Vihari respectively. Despite being part of Indian squad both are unlikely to feature in the fourth test.
Squad for fourth and fifth Tests: Virat Kohli (C), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Karun Nair, Dinesh Karthik (wk) and Hanuma Vihari.
With the fourth Test coming up at The Rose Bowl, Southampton in a few days, India would like to take the momentum in the next game. Though they will be happy with their performance in the third one, they know that one can't take the English team lightly especially in their home conditions.
So, let's take a look at India's predicted playing XI for the fourth Test.
#1 KL RAHUL
The Karnataka wicketkeeper-batsman has not been able to find his feet in the series so far. He is getting the starts but failed to convert them into big ones so far. In the third Test, the opener scored 23 and 36 runs in respective innings and will be eager to convert them into big ones in the next match.
Rahul also shined in slips as he took seven catches in the match and not a single drop. Rahul has been the lone bright star for India in the slips. Among everyone in the slips, he is the only one who looks to make a permanent place for himself in the slips cordon.
After his good outings in both innings and brilliant slip fielding, he is expected to keep his place in the next Test as well.
#2 Shikhar Dhawan
The enigmatic left-hander was dismissed in disappointing fashion in both innings of the second Test. However, he found his form back in the third Test with respective scores of 35 and 44 in first and second innings.
He is expected to continue his form in the next game and look to attack the bowlers from the beginning.
#3 Cheteshwar Pujara
Pujara missed out on the playing XI for the first Test, but was brought back for the 2nd Test where he failed to make any impact. But due to skipper's trust in him, he was given chance in the third Test, which he utilized perfectly with a steady knock of 72 runs off 209 balls.
He played an extremely patient knock in the second innings and went onto forge a 113-run partnership