After a couple of morale-crushing defeats in the first two Tests (31 runs at Edgbaston) and (innings defeat at the Lord's), Virat Kohli registered a memorable victory in the third Test in Nottingham by 203 runs which helped them to bounce back in the five-match Test series.
After changing the playing XI in each of the last 38 Tests. Kohli cited that “Everyone is fit. Ashwin has recovered nicely. He had a good practice session yesterday. He is good to go,” Kohli told reporters. “It has not always been the case of (making random) changes. There have been injuries as well, which have not been taking in to consideration. It has been a mix of both. Seeing the way things are right now we don’t feel we need to change anything.”
Nottingham victory gave India hopes of coming from 0-2 down to win a five-match series, something achieved just once in the history of Test cricket, by a Don Bradman-inspired Australia against England in Ashes 1936/37. So for the Indian team to emulate such a feat the first step would be to opt for their best playing XI.
“The fourth Test will not only be a battle between bat and ball. There will be a bigger mental battle.”@SGanguly99 talks ahead of #ENGvIND in Southampton.
— ICC (@ICC) August 30, 2018
➡️ https://t.co/1cU9N42dYA pic.twitter.com/R5BO44BXZC
Interestingly, this is only the third Test at Southampton. England had previously played Sri Lanka (2011) and India (2014). England had won their last encounter against India in Southampton by 266 runs.
Indian Squad:
Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah
England Squad:
Joe Root (c), Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Oliver Pope, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Sam Curran, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes, Ben Stokes, James Vince.
Also Read: India Vs England, 4th Test: England won the toss and opted to bat first