England playing XI for Ranchi Test vs India announced, 2 star players axed

England has announced their Playing XI for the fourth Test against India which will commence on February 23, Friday at the Jharkhand State Cricket Association Stadium in Ranchi. India and England are facing each other in a five-match Test series where the series currently stands 2-1 in favor of the hosts. The visitors have made two changes in the Playing XI for the fourth Test of the series.

Mark Wood and Rehan Ahmed have been rested for the fourth Test as Ollie Robinson and Shoaib Bashir are included in the playing XI for the fourth Test of the series. England needs to win this Test match if they have to stay alive in the series as they are already behind the hosts by 2-1. England won the first Test in Hyderabad by 28 runs and then lost two games on the trot in Vizag and Rajkot respectively. India won the second Test in Vizag by 106 runs and the third Test in Rajkot by a massive 434 runs.

England is struggling in the series with both bat and ball after the first Test and they have made two changes in the Playing XI. Ben Stokes while describing the Ranchi pitch said that he has never seen something like that before. The pitch at the JSCA stadium is batting-friendly but turns a lot when the ball gets old and cracks start to develop on the pitch. It is the ground where Rohit Sharma smashed his first and only double century in Test cricket against South Africa in 2019.

Ben Stokes is unbeaten as a skipper for England in bilateral Test series and he needs to win the next Test if he has to maintain that unbeaten streak. Rohit Sharma is also unbeaten as a captain in bilateral Test series for India and his team only needs to avoid defeat to continue the unbeaten run. India won the third Test by a record 434 runs which was played at the Niranjan Shah Cricket Stadium in Rajkot.

Here is the playing XI of England for the fourth Test:

1. Zak Crawley
2. Ben Duckett
3. Ollie Pope
4. Joe Root
5. Jonny Bairstow
6. Ben Stokes (C)
7. Ben Foakes
8. Tom Hartley
9. Ollie Robinson
10. James Anderson
11. Shoaib Bashir

India has not lost a Test series at home since 2012 and has won 16 consecutive Test series at home since the defeat against England in 2012. Alastair Cook led the England side in 2012 and won the Test series in India winning it by 2-1. The chances of Ben Stokes repeating Cook’s results are meek but the English side will give their best to avoid losing the series as they have to improve their status in the ICC World Test Championship points table.

India will be hoping to seal the series by winning the fourth Test and getting their points added to the WTC table. India has played two consecutive finals in the WTC but have failed to win the title and they are aiming to play a third final in 2025 and this time win the much awaited WTC title