Veteran commentator Aakash Chopra said that James Anderson won’t be a part of England’s playing XI for the fourth Test against India. He said Mark Wood might also be rested for the crucial game starting in Ranchi on Friday, February 23. England, who are 1-2 down in the five-match Test series, need to win the penultimate game to keep the hope alive. However, Anderson and Wood have played two games apiece in the series so far as well.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said: “The Ranchi pitch is a black-soil pitch and it keeps getting slow, slower, slowest. This pitch doesn’t have bounce and pace. So there won’t be much help for fast bowlers here. I feel Jimmy Anderson won’t play and Mark Wood might also not play. They might play two new bowlers. If Jimmy Anderson doesn’t play, Ollie Robinson might play. He is a very decent bowler. Gus Atkinson is also with this team, otherwise. They can play Shoaib Bashir as well if they wish. I feel the attack will be spin-heavy in this game.”

Meanwhile, Shoaib Bashir made an impressive debut in the second Test in Visakhapatnam, claiming four wickets, including a three-wicket haul in the first innings. The off-spinner could be included in the playing XI, especially if Ben Stokes is fit enough to bowl again.

“In batting, it will be a problem if they are going to play 40 overs. Batting has let down majorly because Zak Crawley has played well throughout the series, Ben Duckett played one good knock, but Joe Root hasn’t played a single good knock. He is repeatedly saying that this is how he plays, that he gets out defending as well, so what difference does it make if he got out while playing a reverse sweep. He has scored nearly 11500 Test runs, so he knows better how to play, but the way he is getting out will obviously leave a lot to be desired,” Aakash Chopra concluded. There should be a serious question mark over Jonny Bairstow because he is not batting well. He is not able to read the ball from the hand and gets out quite a few times playing bad shots.”