India vs England 2021, 4th Test: England’s Predicted XI

From Thursday (4th March), the visitors England will play against the hosts India in the fourth or final match of this Test series at Narendra Modi Stadium (Motera, Ahmedabad).

Currently, the England team is trailing this series by the 2-1 margin with the last Test to go, who currently haven’t any chance to qualify for the final of the 2019-21 ICC World Test Championship. But still, a win in the last game will help them to at least avoid this crucial away Test series defeat which will be a big booster for them.

India vs England 2021, 4th Test: England’s Predicted XI

Dom Sibley

England opener Dom Sibley has played two consecutive good innings in this Asian tour as scoring 56 not out against Sri Lanka and 87 runs against India. But otherwise, he has hugely disappointed with his low scores, which all were below the 20s.

Zak Crawley

While Zak Crawley struggled in the recent Sri Lanka tour, he missed the first two Tests of the ongoing series against India due to injury. Returning to the playing XI in the last game, which was the pink-ball match, Crawley scored 53 runs in the first innings but he scored a duck in the next innings. The visiting team management is expecting strong batting performances from him in the final Test.

Jonny Bairstow

While Jonny Bairstow had a good time in the recent Sri Lanka tour, he got the rest for the first two matches of the ongoing Test series against the hosts India, which hasn’t worked for him in a good way. Coming back to the Test playing XI in the last game, Bairstow failed to open his innings as he scored a pair in that game.

Joe Root (C)

England Test cricket team is very much dependent on captain Joe Root‘s batting, especially in this Test series. Root is currently the leading run-scorer in this series as he has scored 333 runs in 6 innings. The right-handed batsman scored 218 and 40 runs in the first match of this series, but then his scores were 6, 33, 17 and 19 on the tough batting pitches. However, in the last Test, Root was successful as an off-spinner who claimed his maiden fifer in professional cricket. But to win the last Test of this series, Root must have to perform strongly.

Ben Stokes

While India have brought the spin-friendly bowling pitches in this Test series, Ben Stokes has the main duty in batting. Though he scored 82 runs in the first innings of this Test series, then his scores were 7, 18, 8, 6 and 25 runs. Surely he is very much disappointed with his latest batting performances.

Ollie Pope

As the England top-order batting is struggling in this Test series, Ollie Pope has the tough job to handle the situations. His scores in this India tour are 34, 28, 22, 12, 1 and 12. While he has failed to score big runs in this tour, his performance is decreasing in this tough condition.

Ben Foakes (wk)

Wicket-keeper batsman Ben Foakes has impressed in this tour, especially in the second Test where he scored 42 not out during the visitors’ first innings apart from showing smart wicket-keeping skills. His stronger performances can put solid pressure on Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow.

Jofra Archer

Fast bowler Jofra Archer, who missed the second game of this Test series due to an injury, has taken 4 wickets in two Tests. While the pitches are supporting the spinners in this series, Archer has very limited jobs.

Jack Leach

The 29-year-old left-arm spinner Jack Leach has highly impressed in this complete Asian tour. After finishing the Sri Lanka tour with 10 wickets in two Tests, he has taken 16 wickets in this series in three Tests.

Dominic Bess

Off-spinner Dominic Bess ended the recent Sri Lanka tour with 12 wickets in two Tests. He appeared only in the first game of the ongoing Test series where he got a total of five wickets.

James Anderson

The experienced right-arm pacer James Anderson is currently in good form with the ball in hand. He took five wickets in the opening match of this Test series. While he also played in the last Test, which was a pink-ball game, he had no major role as a pacer due to the spin-friendly pitch.