After being smashed by Yashasvi Jaiswal, former English player calls for James Anderson to be dropped in the Ranchi Test

Former England cricketer Michael Atherton believes that English bowlers James Anderson and Mark Wood should be rested for the 4th IND vs ENG Test match. Wood and James Anderson have played two of the first three games so far but have not been able to leave any impact on the Indian batsmen.

The three lions went with a three-spinner and one-seamer attack in the first two games, whereas the visitors played two seamers and two spinners in the 3rd match.

Veteran pacer James Anderson, who was expected to control the run rate seemed helpless in the second of the third Test, he went for seven runs an over. On the other hand, Mark Wood was England‘s best bowler and bowled 38 overs in the four days of the third Test match.

While speaking to Sky Sports, Michael Atherton stated that the visitors should bring in Ollie Robinson and Gus Atkinson on the side. Atherton stated that Robinson will give the control as James Anderson Atkinson brings freshness.

Michael Atherton wants James Anderson and Mark Wood to be rested in the fourth IND vs ENG Test

Michael Atherton said, “We’ve seen a lot of Ollie Robinson, who has great skill and great control. He’ll give the control that Anderson gives, whereas Atkinson gives that freshness. Both will be raring to go. My instincts would say they’ll freshen up the bowling, that they may bring in Robinson for James Anderson and may think about Atkinson for Wood.”

England have a lot to think about after their humiliating loss in the third Test match played in Rajkot. The Three Lions were thrashed by India by 434 runs, which was the team’s highest win margin in their history of Test cricket. The visitors have been dependent on individual performances and have dealt with horrible batting collapses in the first three games.

Also, main players such as Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow have not been able to perform as per their names. Players such as Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, and Tom Hartley have performed for England in different games but have not been able to continue their consistency.

On the other hand, India got a lot of answers from their win in the third Test match. The Indian middle order was not able to click in the first two games, and batsmen such as Shreyas Iyer and KS Bharat were out of form.

However, they were replaced by Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan, who stood on the belief of the Indian management and displayed brilliant performances. The Indian bowling attack has been India’s top-performing aspect in the series so far.

The Indian team will be aiming to repeat its momentum in the third game and win the series in Ranchi. The fourth IND vs ENG Test match is set to be played from Friday, 23 February at the JSCA Stadium in Ranchi.

India were able to register also make huge gains in the World Test Championship 2023-25 standings and will look to continue the same in the 4th game. The visitors will want to make a comeback in the series.