Rahul Chahar gets a game for India in place of Yuzvendra Chahal
Toss England won the toss and chose to bowl vs India
Eoin Morgan called right at the toss once again, with England choosing to bowl in the fourth T20I, on the same surface that was used for the first T20I of the series against India.
England have gone in unchanged from the team that won the third match by eight wickets, while India had two changes, one of them forced. Ishan Kishan has a groin strain from a diving stop at fine leg in the third T20I, and so makes way for Suryakumar Yadav. Meanwhile, Rahul Chahar gets a game for India in place of Yuzvendra Chahal, with captain Virat Kohli saying that India wanted to “give an opportunity” to Chahar.
Kohli reiterated his stance about India needing to embrace batting first and figuring out a way to win T20 matches when they had to bat first.
The surface for the fourth T20I might give India the best chance to do that, with both captains saying it looked like the best one of the series so far.
Kohli, who is coming into this game after back-to-back unbeaten 70s, is expected to slot back at his usual No. 3 spot with Kishan absent. That also means the combination of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul will continue to be the openers. Kohli had stated before the series that would be India’s preferred combination, and both he and batting coach Vikram Rathour reiterated their faith in Rahul after scores of 1, 0 and 0 in the series so far.
England will back their devastating pace attack, led by Jofra Archer and Mark Wood, to continue to make inroads into India’s batsmen. In a series that has so far seen the chasing team win each game, Morgan said setting a total was always ‘unnerving’ given a poor start.
“The challenge of setting a total is always unnerving depending on how you start in the first 10 overs,” Morgan told the host broadcaster during the toss. “Then there’s the dew element, that adds to the stress of setting a total. I also think both sides have bowled better in the first innings.”
Kohli meanwhile called on his team to show more intensity in the field.
“I think last game our body language wasn’t up to the mark and we discussed that in the team meeting,” Kohli said. “It doesn’t have to be a do or die situation for you to bring your best on the field. Batting and bowling is easier, fielding is a selfless act. You really need to be in the best frame of mind to give fully.”
India 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 KL Rahul, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Rishabh Pant (wk), 5 Shreyas Iyer, 6 Suryakumar Yadav, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Shardul Thakur, 10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal
England 1 Jason Roy, 2 Jos Buttler (wk), 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Jonny Bairstow, 5 Eoin Morgan (capt), 6 Ben Stokes, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Chris Jordan, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Mark Wood
Saurabh Somani is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo