India vs England 2021: Dom Bess Likely To Play In The 4th Test If The Pitch Is Again Spin-Friendly, Confirms Joe Root

England captain, Joe Root has all but confirmed the selection of Dom Bess for the fourth and last Test match against India commencing on Thursday at the same venue as the third Test – Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Joe Root reckons Bess will return to the side unequivocally if the pitch is anything like that in the third Test, which assisted the spinner so much that the skipper himself has to bowl ahead of the seamers and eventually bagged a five-wicket haul as well.

Despite picking 4 wickets – including those of Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli –  in the first innings of the first Test Chennai Test, Bess was dropped as Moeen Ali came into the line-up. Now with Ali back to England for rest, Joe Root is confident that when provided with the opportunity Bess will do well.

As quoted by India Today, Joe Root said, “If the pitch looks anything like the last one I think Dom will be licking his lips at the opportunity. He is certainly in contention for selection and he is a very skillful young bowler who will be desperate to make his mark if he gets the chance.”

“Dom will see how someone like me had an impact and will be very excited if conditions are the same. There is no comparison between him and me. He is a far more talented bowler and will definitely be above me in the pecking order if he’s in the side,” Root added.

We read the pitch wrong in terms of the team we selected: Joe Root

Joe Root also admitted he got the selections wrong by including three seamers and Jack Leach as the lone spinner. The right-hander explains the reason for such a seam-heavy bowling attack by pointing out the first day-night game in India against Bangladesh where the Indian pacers took 19 wickets with the pink ball.

“We got that wrong. We read the pitch wrong in terms of the team we selected. We looked at conditions and how the ball behaved in the last pink-ball Test in India. We didn’t expect it to spin so much,” the 30-year-old skipper added.

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