Ahead of the fourth and penultimate test, England captain Ben Stokes has been astonished by the pitch at the JSCA stadium in Ranchi. Stokes claimed that he had never seen something like this before.
With India leading the five-match series, anticipation for the Ranchi Test has been heightened with the pre-match chatter revolving around the nature of the wicket, specifically the ”platey cracks as described by the England batter. The Ranchi pitch is expected to turn, but how quickly and how much are the questions that are being posed? So far, the tracks on which the matches were played were no way rank-turners, with Hyderabad offering the most to the spinners, but it was no way unplayable.
On the fourth test, Stokes told BBC Sport,
“It looked green and grassy up in the changing rooms, but then you go out there, it looks different: very dark and crumbly, and quite a few cracks in it.”
On the other hand, Vice-Captain Olli Pope pointed out the abundance of rough patches outside the right-hander’s off stump.
England trail the five-match series 2-1 after a thrashing 434-run loss in Rajkot. Stokes opened up on the huge loss, saying that England has shrugged off the Rajkot rest and is looking forward to the remaining two games and sealing the series 3-2. On the other side, India will be without the services of Ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah, and middle-order batsman KL Rahul has been ruled out due to an injury sustained in the first test of the series. The Mangalore batter’s participation in the final test in Dharmasala is subject to a fitness test. Mukesh Kumar, who was released from the squad for the third test, has joined the squad. Bumrah, the leading wicket-taker in the series with 17, is likely to return to the side for the final test.
India will look to seal the series in Ranchi, as both departments have been firing in an outstanding manner. Eyes will be on Rajat Patidar, who will probably play the third test in his career and yet to make a statement score.