India vs England – 4th Test Match Preview & Prediction
THE FACTS
When is India vs England taking place? Thursday, March 4th, 2021 – 04:00 (UK)
Where is India vs England taking place? Sardar Patel (Gujarat) Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
What is the expected weather for India vs England? 37-38c with sunshine forecast and searing temperatures all five days
What channel is India vs England on? The match will be televised live on Channel 4
Where can I stream India vs England? The match can be streamed live via SkyGo
LAST MEETING
India beat England by 10 wickets
THE TEAM NEWS
INDIA
- India won a crazy third Test in Ahmedabad by ten wickets as 30 wickets fell within two days but while the pitch is not expected to be quite as spin-friendly from the very first ball, they will be confident conditions will heavily favour them once again.
- After defeat in the first game, the hosts have responded in style overwhelming England in the last two Test matches and they come into this game full of confidence and fired up to seal the series win.
- Jasprit Bumrah has been left out for personal reasons so Umesh Yadav or Mohammed Siraj will likely be handed an opportunity to come back into the side but it seems unlikely there will be any further changes given how well they are playing right now.
ENGLAND
- England enter this final Test under pressure to halt an alarming slide right now as they have lost the last two Tests and they struggled woefully from a technical perspective to handle the spin in the last Test at the same venue in Ahmedabad.
- Jonny Bairstow came in and suffered two ducks while Zak Crawley’s first innings knock of 53 was the only individual score over 25 as their batsmen combined for 193 runs in total so they simply have to improve with the bat to have any chance of competing.
- Chris Woakes has returned home for a short period of time so he is unavailable but they will surely consider bringing Dom Bess and Dan Lawrence back into the team for this game in an attempt to bounce back and salvage something from this series.
THE PREDICTION
After defeat in the opening Test, India have responded emphatically with two dominant wins and they will fully expect to pick up a third consecutive win to seal the series here. They meet England in Ahmedabad once again but this is an normal day game where the temperatures will soar to almost 40c which will strongly favour the hosts. The pitch will surely be conditioned not to spin so much from the start as the financial revenues lost from playing just two days in a Test is far too great but they will still favour the hosts. England do not have many options to change things around in terms of personnel and they looked resigned to suffering another loss here. Rather than anything else, the technique of their batsmen has to be questioned against spin and that is not going to resolve itself here. Another heavy defeat is on the cards for the tourists, so take India with good confidence.
