England need to keep the series alive
After a strong win in Rajkot which has kept the five T20I series alive, visitors England now have the chance to tie up the series as they head to Pune for the fourth T20I.
Ahead of the fourth T20I between India and England, here’s our match preview and predictions.
India vs England 4th T20I | England Tour of India 2025 | 19:00 IST, January 31, 2025
The Indian batters failed to back Varun Chakravarthy’s five-wicket haul as the hosts fell to a 26-run defeat in the third T20I, opening the door for England to make a possible comeback in the five-match series. The Indian bowlers were bolstered by the return of Mohammed Shami and although Shami wasn’t amongst the wickets, his comeback spells positive news for Indian cricket. With the ball it was all Varun Chakravarthy as his five-wicket haul kept England restricted to 171/9. Axar Patel provided solid support to Chakravarthy but Ravi Bishnoi’s expensive outing will raise some concerns for the Indian fans with the leg-spinner having picked up only a solitary wicket in the three games and went for over 11 in Rajkot as well.
With the bat, Sanju Samson’s struggles continued at the top of the order along with Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav. The explosive Abhishek Sharma failed to capitalise on a quick start and it came down to Hardik Pandya to guide the hosts home but Pandya ran out of partners in the end as the Indian batters struggled against the two-faced spin and pace attack from the Brits.
The visitors, meanwhile had Ben Duckett and Jos Buttler give the hosts a flying start after yet another failure from Phil Salt but barring Duckett and the English captain, only Liam Livingstone got going as the rest of the batters struggled to pick Varun Chakravarthy. Moving to Pune, which is generally known for its rank-turners, the visitors will have to tackle spin better if they want to keep themselves alive in the series. On the same note though, moving to Pune would be ideal, especially given Adil Rashid’s performance in Rajkot. Rashid gave nothing away in his four over, putting in a miserly performance which tied up the Indian batters at one end and as they tried to open their arms against the quicks, they failed miserably. England will hope for more of the same in the fourth T20I.
Pune is known to be a turning strip which means England will have to bat well against the Indian spin quartet and although they might have taken a win in Rajkot, expect the hosts to seal the series in Pune on a turning and low-scoring game.
Fantasy XI: Abhishek Sharma, Phil Salt, Jos Buttler, Suryakumar Yadav, Harry Brook, Tilak Vama, Hardik Pandya, Brydon Carse, Varun Chakravarthy, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer
Venue: Pune
Winners Prediction: England
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