Preview: England captain Joe Root has urged his team to produce a “ruthless” display in the fourth Test against India at the Oval starting Thursday.
England’s innings and 76-run victory at Headingley last week has left the five-match series all square at 1-1.
But with wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler absent to attend the birth of his second child and concerns about the impact a gruelling schedule of three Tests in three weeks will have on their fast bowlers, England could still make as many as three changes to a winning side.
“Now is when the hard work starts,” England captain Root told reporters on Tuesday.
“We’ve got to look to go even further, dig deeper and really start to go through the gears,” added Root, who scored his third hundred in as many Tests last week – his sixth of 2021 – and is now set to climb to the top of the International Cricket Council Test batting rankings when the points system is updated on Wednesday.
“A world-class side like India, led by Virat Kohli, I expect nothing less than a response. It would be naive to think otherwise. We’ve just got ourselves back to level and, if we find ourselves ahead of the game at any stage, we must get ruthless again.”
