spot_img

India vs England 2021 4th Test Preview: India seek to bounce back after Leeds debacle

Both teams have won one Test match each so far.

The highly engaging bilateral series between India and England is taking game-defining twists and turns after every fixture. The hosts notched up an emphatic victory over the visitors in the third match to level the series 1-1, with two more matches to go. The depleted England team who wasn’t looking the favourites after the Lord’s defeat made a remarkable comeback in the following game to keep the series alive and interesting. The fourth game of the India tour of England will be played at The Oval in London on Thursday at 3:30 PM IST.

The visiting Indian team was on the back foot since the first over of the third Test when James Anderson got the Indian opener, KL Rahul, for a duck. The Indian batting line-up collapsed miserably in the first innings as the English wrapped the tourists for a humiliating total of 78. Virat Kohli’s men made a comeback in the second innings when they were trailing by 354 runs. The Indian top-order started incredibly well as Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli smashed half-centuries. The gritty fightback in the second innings wasn’t good enough as they couldn’t survive the morning on Day 4 with the new ball and the Indians got all out to 278. The Englishmen won the fixture by an innings and 76 runs.

The England team surrounded with injuries came back stronger after the Lord’s defeat. They were right on the top since the beginning of the first Test. Where the Indian batsmen, who couldn’t even add 100 runs on the board altogether, the English batsmen were looking in full flow. The bowlers did their job in the first innings while the batsmen got the runs in the following innings. Joe Root and the team scored 432 with the skipper leading the batting lineup. The mammoth total in the first innings with the bat was more than enough for the home team to clinch the match by a huge margin.

Team News:
India: The playing XI which dominated England at Lord’s failed to put up a fight in the third Test. There might be discussions upon the inclusion of Ravichandran Ashwin as a second spinner or as a replacement for Ravindra Jadeja.

England: England’s combination in the third Test worked well for the hosts. They might go ahead with the same playing XI but Chris Woakes’ return might change the equation.

Related Articles

Latest Articles