Mumbai [India], Dec. 8 : England won the toss and have opted to bat in the fourth Test of the ongoing five-match series against India here at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.
After winning the toss England skipper Alastair Cook said, "We will have a bat. It looks like a good wicket. All three games we have played have been on good wickets. We expect nothing different." "There is good support for us here and we hope to do well. We had a few days off. So, back to business now. It is nice to turn up at a venue, where you have had good memories. Keaton (Jennings) comes in for Hameed and Jake Ball comes in for Batty. Broad's foot is still not right," he added. Mohammad Shami has been replaced by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, whereas KL Rahul has come in place of injured Ajinkya Rahane.
Karun Nair gets another chance. With an unassailable 2-0 lead after three Tests, the Virat Kohli-led team is brimming with confidence and they would like to regain the Anthony de Mello Trophy which they had lost to Cook's side back in 2012.
Having drawn the first Test in Rajkot, the visitors suffered crushing defeats in Visakhapatnam and Mohali.
Therefore, it would be a herculean task for the visitors to stage a comeback against India, which is looking dominant enough to clinch the series with both their batters and bowlers performing exceedingly well.
India have won 10, lost seven and drawn seven in 24 Test matches played at the Wankhede. India Playing XI: Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Karun Nair, Ravichandran Ashwin, Parthiv Patel(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav England Playing XI: Alastair Cook(c), Keaton Jennings, Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow(w), Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, James Anderson, Jake Ball.
Source: ANI
