England Prepared To Counter Ravichandran Ashwin If He Plays In Oval Test: Joe Root

England and India will be clashing in the fourth Test of the ongoing five-match series from September 2^nd and it is possible that Joe Root and co. face the challenge of ace Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, given the spin-friendly conditions at the Kennington Oval.

Ashwin has not managed to get a game thus far in the series as Indian team management has preferred Ravindra Jadeja as the bowling all-rounder thanks to his better batting prowess. However, with Ravichandran Ashwin picking seven wickets for Surrey against Somerset in a county match before the England Test series.

However, with India losing the third Test match by an innings and 76 runs and series being equaled 1-1; India might opt for Ravichandran Ashwin either in place of Ishant Sharma, who looked out of sorts or in place of Ravindra Jadeja, who picked his first wickets in the series in the third Test match.

We Will Certainly Be Making Sure That We’re Prepared For The Challenges Ravichandran Ashwin Throws At Us: Joe Root

England came back strongly in the third Test match and the win against India made Root the most successful Test captain for England with 27 wins in 55 games, surpassing the likes of Michael Vaughan (26), Andrew Strauss (24), and Alastair Cook (24).

“We will certainly be making sure that we’re prepared for the challenges that he poses coming into this Test match, along with other combinations that they might throw at us. But, ultimately, you can get wrapped up and you can end up playing the player.

So it’s really important that you just play the delivery and to the situation that you find yourself in. Whoever it is that we face up against this week, it’s about playing the ball that’s right in front of you and not to the reputation,” Joe Root said ahead of the fourth Test match.

Ravichandran Ashwin (413) is just 4 wickets short of joining Harbhajan Singh (417) as the second most successful Indian spinner after Anil Kumble (619) in Test cricket. He will be eager to prove his naysayers wrong with both the ball and bat, given the conditions helpful for tweakers.

Also Read: India vs England 2021: We Have To Continue To Keep Virat Kohli Quiet If We Aim To Win The Series, States Joe Root