The Brits have started the Test series against India on a convincing note as they won the first two Tests of the series played at Edgbaston and Lord’s.
Cricket news: There are two new inclusions from the third Test in the lineup
However their form slumped in the fourth Test at Trent Bridge in Nottingham as they were defeated by a mammoth margin of 203 runs. Nevertheless they still has the upper hand as they are 2-1 up in the five-match series.
The fourth Test is scheduled to begin from August 30 at The Ageas Bowl in Southampton. The hosts have played two Tests in this venue, one against Sri Lanka and one against India, and are unbeaten here.
They will try to bounce back from the defeat and keep that winning streak in the venue intact. In the meantime as per reports in www.ecb.co.uk, England skipper Joe Root has announced his playing XI for the fourth Test.
England has decided to bench the Trent Bridge debutant Ollie Pope, who failed to deliver on the stage.
Regarding his exclusion Root said, “Chris Woakes is not fit to play this week and Ben Stokes has a slight issue so for the balance of the side Moeen Ali comes in for Ollie Pope.”
Root has also cleared the role of Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow. “Jos Buttler is going to keep. It’s a lot to ask Jonny to do it with a broken finger, but he’s fit to bat. We have to do the best thing for this team to win the game. There are no guarantees in international sport,” he remarked.
Regarding Moeen Ali’s inclusion, Root said that he deserved to be in the squad because of his impressive performances in the domestic circuit.
“Moeen Ali has done exactly what you’d want him to do, he’s been scoring runs and taking wickets in county cricket and should be full of confidence, We’ve bounced back from difficult defeats before and that’s the challenge for us to do it again here,” Root added.
Here is the playing XI of England
Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Joe Root (c), Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, James Anderson