Ollie Robinson in line for recall as England weigh up bowling balance،
England plan to return to their unique fast-paced approach for the must-win fourth Test in Ranchi, with Ollie Robinson set to make his first appearance of the tour. And they could also be strengthened by the return of Ben Stokes to his role as a bowling all-rounder.
The tourists are yet to make a concrete decision on the exact composition of their bowling line-up, but are leaning heavily towards the balance they struck in the first two Tests, where Mark Wood, then James Anderson, operated from independently alongside three spinners. and Joe Root. Anderson and Wood then lined up side by side for the third Test, which India won by 434 runs to take a 2–1 series lead.
After the pair dispatched 76 overs between them and fielded each of the four days in Ranchi, Robinson is expected to return to provide fresh legs, with Wood likely to be rested. That then leaves Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum with the decision of whether to recall off-spinner Shoaib Bashir for Anderson or stick with the veteran seamer, who has six wickets at 35.83 in his two appearances to date. Another option could be to strengthen the batting, if England anticipate conditions offering extreme spin, with Dan Lawrence – a useful player himself – an outside bet for a first start of the Stokes-McCullum era.
Robinson's previous Test appearance came against Australia at Headingley in July, which was also his last competitive match. Despite a disappointing performance in the Ashes, he still has 76 wickets at 22.21 in 19 caps and can draw on his experience in Pakistan last winter where he took nine dismissals at 21.22, with a rate of saving of 2.47 on generally useless surfaces.
The return to a spin-dominant attack came after a first sight of the pitch at the JSCA International Stadium. Two days before the start of the Test. England have already been surprised by the extent of the cracks and are expecting plenty of twists and turns from the start of the match, with varying bounces coming into play sooner rather than later.
“There are a lot of cracks,” said Ollie Pope, England vice-captain. “It's very flat, and they just wet it too, which usually dries it out. It doesn't necessarily look like a belt wicket at the moment. It looks like half of it is good, and then there's a a lot of cracks on the plate. That's how we see things at the moment. I think we will see what happens tomorrow after the Indian team takes a look at the wicket and then take a decision from there .
“At the moment it looks like a batting from the end, it's outside the right-hander's stump, and then from this end, the left-hander's stump. It just looks like it's down the wicket, it It's kind of slapped on it. one side then the other side looks like a really good wicket.
If Stokes was available to bowl, he could operate as a second seamer. Thus making England's decision to recall Bashir all the easier, giving them the best of both worlds.
After opening the possibility of bowling again for the remainder of the series, the England captain used Wednesday's first practice session in Ranchi to bowl against batters for the first time since his left knee surgery in november. His session lasted a long period and was almost exclusively against Jonny Bairstow, with England men's coach Luke Wright assisting as referee to keep an eye on his front foot. He looked strong throughout and, once finished, had a debrief with England team doctor Glen Rae.
Stokes, with 197 wickets at 32.07, last played competitively in June, in the second Ashes Test at Lord's. Having made a “small promise” to team physio Ben Davies that he would not play in India, he could be about to break that promise.
“There’s definitely a chance,” Pope said of the prospect of Stokes bowling this week. “He didn't confirm it even in the locker room, so we'll see. He played against the hitters today. We'll see how he does, and if it's good, we'll see him with the ball in hand in the match.”
Speaking on Monday, McCullum said it would be his job to hold Stokes back if he felt he was trying to progress too quickly. Likewise, Pope, as Stokes' deputy, appreciates that he will have the unenviable task of keeping Stokes in check on the field.
“I think when he goes away, it's quite difficult to get the ball out of his hands, to be honest. But I'll talk to him before the game, to see if he expects anything like that from me. If he has full confidence in his knee then I guess you have to trust the medical advice and his opinions as well. That's the main thing and if he needs a bit of advice on the pitch then I can be someone to lean on.
