England lost five wickets in the opening session of the fourth Test against India in Ranchi, prompting Michael Vaughan to criticize the pitch. While the former captain feels it is foolish to rate a surface until both sides have batted, he described it as a ‘shocker’.
After winning the toss, England chose to bat first and found the surface assist seam to be quite useful as the ball bounced around. Debutant Akash Deep was denied a wicket in the fourth over after sending Zak Crawley’s stumps spinning, but he had overstepped. However, the right-arm seamer struck gold in his next over, dismissing the other openers, Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope.
Akash Deep ultimately dismissed Crawley for his third wicket, while Ravichandran Ashwin terminated Jonny Bairstow’s counter-attacking effort. The session concluded with Ravindra Jadeja catching visiting captain Ben Stokes lbw with a low delivery, leaving England on 112-5.
Michael Vaughan Tweeted about the surface:
“The old saying .. Do not judge a pitch till both teams have batted and bowled on it .. but let’s be honest .. this one looks a shocker.”
Michael Vaughan
The hosts made only one change from the previous Test in Rajkot, resting Jasprit Bumrah and debuting Akash Deep.
England make two changes for Ranchi Test
The visitors have made a few modifications to their roster. Mark Wood and Rehan Ahmed were left out, while Ollie Robinson and Shoaib Bashir were brought in. Prior to the Ranchi Test, it was also revealed that Rehan Ahmed will travel home owing to an important emergency.
Ben Stokes and his team won the first Test in Hyderabad by 28 runs, but lost the following two convincingly. To keep the series alive, they must either win in Ranchi or avoid loss. After 46 overs, the tourists have a score of 165-5, with Joe Root (47) and Ben Foakes (14) batting.