 "Ollie Robinson will be part of England's pace attack in the fourth Test against India. Reuters")
England have made two changes to their team for the fourth Test against India that gets underway on 23 February in Ranchi. Seamer Ollie Robinson has come in for Mark Wood while Shoaib Bashir has replaced fellow spinner Rehan Ahmed.
Robinson will play his first Test match in India, returning to the England XI for the first time since suffering a back spasm in the third Ashes Test last July, which was also his last competitive match. He will form the pace unit alongside James Anderson, who bowled 38 overs in the third Test, with match figures of 1 for 139.
Offspinner Bashir has been chosen ahead of Rehan, who is the team’s second-highest wicket-taker in the series with 11 wickets from three matches. The 19-year-old was targeted by India’s batters in the second innings at Rajkot, returning 1/108 from 25 overs.
Bashir will join Tom Hartley and Joe Root as England’s slow-bowling trio. Bashir made his Test debut in the second match at Visakhapatnam, taking 3/138 and 1/58 in the match.
England are in a must-win position going into the fourth Test. India lead the five-match series 2-1 after inflicting a massive 434-run defeat on the visitors in Rajkot.
England XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Tom Hartley, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson, Shoaib Bashir