Welcome to day one of our live report of the fourth India-England Test from Ahmedabad. Join us for updates, analysis and colour. You can find our traditional ball-by-ball commentary here
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9.35am: England win toss and bat
Two changes for England – they’ve left out Archer and Broad, Bess and Lawrence come in
For India, Siraj replaces Bumrah
Can England capitalise on the toss they’ve won?https://t.co/QzjBfWfJck #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/Slg0d7Pz7c
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) March 4, 2021
G’day and welcome to our rolling report of the fourth Test. It’s crunch time in the race for World Test Championship qualification, and the last stop on England’s six-match subcontinental odyssey… and Joe Root has won his third toss of the series. What does that mean for the next five four few days? The tourists have made a couple of changes, altering the balance of their side by bringing in batsman Dan Lawrence and spinner Dom Bess, with seamers Jofra Archer and Stuart Broad dropping out. India, having already released Jasprit Bumrah, have included Mohammed Siraj in his place. Of course, were this a report from the red carpet at an awards show, everyone would be dying for a word with the pitch. “Do you listen to the critics? How are you holding together? Can you top last week’s performance?” Not long now until we find out just how many booby traps have been installed for the second installment from Ahmedabad.
Alan Gardner is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo. @alanroderick
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