Ishant had a poor outing in the third Test match at Headingley.
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Ishant had a poor outing in the third Test match. He conceded 92 runs in his 22 overs without taking a wicket as England piled up 432 in their only innings after bowling India out for a paltry 78 in the first essay.
Moreover, the lanky fast bowler looked jaded. His bowling speed was in the late 120kmph and early 130kmph.
While there has been no confirmation whether Ishant was fully fit during the Leeds Test, skipper Virat Kohli indicated after the match that there will be changes keeping in mind the workload of the pace bowlers.
Meanwhile, a report in PTI suggests that all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja's knee scan hasn't revealed any significant damage but off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin looks favourite to feature in the playing for the fourth Test, due to be played at the Oval from September 2.
It is still not clear whether the visitors will opt to go with two specialist spinners but Ashwin, who took seven wickets for Surrey against Somerset at the same venue last month, won't be sidelined at least in this game.
In case, Ishant gets dropped, the choice would be between Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur. While Shardul has better batting abilities, Umesh is certainly a better Test bowler.
But with Kohli pointing out the workload factor, it remains to be seen whether Mohammad Shami or Jasprit Bumrah is rested to stay afresh for the final Test.
While Shami has bowled 96.5 overs in the series so far, Bumrah has bowled 108 overs. On the other hand, Mohammed Siraj has bowled 100.5 overs in the first three Test matches.
(With PTI inputs)