Wicket-keeper Dhruv Jurel and his teammates successfully appeal for the wicket of Jonny Bairstow, whose poor form continued with the decision of Ravindra Jadeja Photo: Gareth Copley /Getty Images
Winning the fourth Test to level the series in Ranchi would be captain Ben Stokes' biggest achievement to date after England failed to finish second in Rajkot. Figuratively speaking, having ahead of India at the end of the second day, they finished in an unfortunate third.
When England lost 2-0 to Australia last summer, both margins of defeat were close. Stokes just needed to make a few changes to get England started winning: tempering the enthusiasm of his young batsmen and bringing in Mark Wood and Chris Woakes to ignite the bowling.
In this case, Stokes has more than just cracks. that need to be sealed, but also fault lines. His senior batsmen, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow, are in a bad position, while his spinners continue to bowl poorly as they are too inexperienced to bowl six straight balls in an over.
There is a strong case to be made for bringing Dan Lawrence to Bairstow because Lawrence has previously shown excellent footwork in India and has scored a Test fifty when the ball has turned. But the message Bairstow's suspension will send to the team will have a seismic effect: if the summer 2022 wondermaker is dropped after three inconclusive Tests, no one will suddenly be safe.
Joe Root changes his stance just before being caught by Yashasvi Jaiswal in the third Test. The former England captain is in a bad situation with his batting. Photo: Philip Brown/Popperfoto
Eliminating James Anderson and Mark Wood is the last thing Stokes and Brendon McCullum will want to do in a must-win showdown, but it looks inevitable. With England self-destructing in their first innings at Rajkot, which gave them inadequate breathing space, Anderson and Wood had to play each of the first three days of the third Test and were exhausted by the end.
Ollie Robinson's tricky length could have seen Yashasvi Jaiswal just trapped behind the wicket in Ranchi and he deserves the chance to prove he can go through an entire Test without breaking down. But if England are to play in Ranchi with two seamers, as has been the norm in the two Tests so far, and if Anderson and Wood are to be rested, Stokes will have to saddle another opener, Gus Atkinson, who is yet to take a Test.
< p>Harry Brooke is missing: he could take Bairstow's place without too much damage to morale. But the most important absentee, from Stokes's point of view, is Jack Leach. When his senior spinner went home with a knee injury, Stokes lost something valuable that neither of his openers or Root as an off-spinner can give him: control. He may say that he is only interested in taking wickets, but not every statement of this or that sports leadership is the objective truth. What Stokes needs from his two bowlers if India are to avoid running away with the series to a 4-1 win is control.
Tom Hartley, Rehan Ahmed and Shoaib Bashir have done exceptionally well in one Test to erase the difference in quality between the two countries' spinners, but the gulf is becoming increasingly stark. England's youngsters were thrown into the deep end with minimal preparation in the four-day red-ball cricket championship, and once their novelty wore off, their effectiveness plummeted: India's batsmen know they only have to wait until a bad ball will fall. short. Meanwhile, the three Indian spinners have taken over 800 Test wickets and know everything there is to know about bowling at home.
Rehan Ahmed's technique , seems to need some work, not least its low release point and minimal use of the lead hand. Photo: Punit Paranjpe/Getty Images
It looks like Ahmed — under-hyped in some ways because England have no other prominent wrist spinner — may have to go back to the drawing board to become a regular Test spinner. He could develop into a sixth Test batsman who offers some leg breaks who will take a big wicket every now and then while his googly can wipe his tails, but to become a specialist spinner who can support three seamers , it's like a drawing board. : Replace his hasty action, minimal use of lead hand and low release point with a more measured run-up, more active use of his left hand, a higher delivery position and developing a trajectory that sends his standard ball up before falling. and turning around. But the change may well make him look less like a T20 bowler.
Stokes and McCullum have too many issues to sort out before Friday, starting with those senior batsmen and the absence of a senior spinner. Of the two Tests played so far in Ranchi, both were high-scoring ones, with one ending in a draw; and even achieving that, given where England are now, would be a miracle.
But let's not rule out a consolation win in the fifth Test in the foothills of Dharamsala, where conditions will be more favorable to the seamers. than any resin on the plain. The 3-2 scoreline in India's favor may seem deceptively close, but from here on out it will be a great achievement for England.
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