Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India] : Former cricketer Aakash Chopra on Thursday shared his opinion on the upcoming fourth Test match between India and England in Ranchi and felt that English pacer James Anderson will not take part in the game.
The fourth Test at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi from Friday will be a decider in the five-match series.
While speaking on his official YouTube channel, Chopra claimed the pitch in Ranchi will get slower since it’s a black soil wicket and won’t assist the fast bowlers.
He added that Mark Wood could also not make it into the first eleven of England.
“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,” Chopra said.
The former India cricketer also opined that English pacer Ollie Robinson will get an opportunity in the fourth Test if Anderson doesn’t take part.
“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,” he added.
Earlier while addressing the pre-match press conference, Stokes accepted it could be “tough” for a player like Robinson not to be included in the first eleven of the first three Test matches of the five-game Test series against India.
“He has worked incredibly hard while he has been out here. And it is tough for someone like Ollie, who’s played such a big part in the game over the last two years, where he has not taken part in a game and the stuff he has done away from the game itself has been very good,” Stokes was quoted by ESPNcricinfo as saying.
After the first three Test matches of the series, India enjoy a lead of 2-1 after winning the second and third games by 106 and 434 runs respectively, while, the visitors have clinched a 28-run victory in the first Test in Hyderabad.
