Team India will be eager to get their mojo back in the ongoing Test series against England when the two teams clash in the 4th Test to be played at the Kennington Oval in London from September 2nd onwards.
The series stands at 1-1 thanks to England’s amazing innings and 76-run victory in the third Test at Leeds, while India had won the second Test in Lord’s by 151 runs. The first Test between the two sides at Nottingham ended in a draw due to rain washing out day five.
With both the sides experiencing ups and downs in the series, the Indian team has to figure out a potent balance between batting and bowling though their middle-order got some runs finally in the last two Tests. Their bowling was toothless in the third Test and keeping all of this in consideration, Team COC presents to you its predicted Team India playing XI for the 4th Test in Oval.
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The batting order of the Indian playing XI is expected to remain the same despite the middle order still struggling for consistency despite each of them scoring one half-century atleast in the series till now.
Opener Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul have been doing a good job till now, despite the blip in the third Test at Leeds. Rohit has been doing well and getting starts but needs to focus on getting to the three-figure mark. Rahul just had a bad Test match in Leeds and can expect him to bounce back at the Oval.
Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, and Ajinkya Rahane have all struggled for runs, but have shown glimpses of returning to form as Kohli scored a fifty in the previous match, while Rahane made a fifty at Lord’s, while Pujara made 91 in the second innings at Leeds.
India has the option of bringing in Suryakumar Yadav to replace either Pujara or Rahane in the playing XI, but it looks a bit remote. Rishabh Pant has done well as a keeper but needs to curb his instincts a bit in dire situations and bat according to what is needed instead of blindly throwing his bat around.
Changes are expected in the bowling department as the Oval ground favors spinners as the surface tends to grip and turn. This means R Ashwin has a chance to play his first Test in the series. He previously played at the ground for Surrey against Somerset and picked 7 wickets including a 6-fer.
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While Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Mohammad Shami bowled well, Ishant Sharma didn’t look himself and went wicketless in the third Test loss. Ishant’s spot is expected to be taken by Ashwin in the XI.
With Shardul Thakur getting fit, expect him to replace either of the three bowlers as Virat Kohli had talked about workload management of the fast bowlers, and all the three of them in Shami, Bumrah, and Siraj have played in all three matches thus far.
COC Predicted Team India playing XI for the 4th Test at the Oval:
Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane (VC), Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
