England bid to keep India Test series alive

ENGLAND are bidding to keep the India series alive with victory in this week’s fourth Test in Mumbai, which starts on Thursday, but defeat will raise further questions about Alastair Cook’s future as captain.

The visitors must win at the Wankhede Stadium to stop top-ranked India from sealing the five-Test series with a match to spare following two consecutive defeats.

Virat Kohli’s side won by eight wickets in Mohali last week to take an unbeatable 2-0 series lead after victory in Viskhapatnam followed a draw in the first Test at Rajkot.

Anything less than a victory for England would see India exact revenge for their 2012 home series loss to Cook’s men and add to uncertainty surrounding the English skipper.

His future as captain has been in doubt since he admitted just before the tour that he could quit at the end of the Test series because he was finding it hard to be apart from his family for long periods.

After becoming a father for a second time last month, the 31-year-old left-handed opening batsman said that he found the long England tours diffic u l t , whi l e i ns i s t i ng h e remained deeply proud of captaining his country.

Despite England’s travails in India, coach Trevor Bayliss said he expected Cook to be in charge for the Ashes tour at the end of 2017.

“He’s talking about the next Ashes series and being out in Australia,” Bayliss told BBC Sport.

“Sometimes there are little comments made along the way and they get blown out of all proportion. He’s certainly up for the fight. I haven’t had any discussion with him any other way and that’s what we’ve been working towards,” the Australian coach added.

Cook also received the backing of batsman Joe Root who hailed his skipper as a “brilliant leader”.

“Hopefully, we get these results we want in the last two games and we can put right what has been quite a frustrating last couple of weeks,” Root, 25, told reporters last week.

England’s chances of salvaging the series were dealt a blow, however, when teenage batting sensation Haseeb Hameed was ruled out of the remaining two matches after injuring his hand during the Mohali match.

The 19-year-old’s absence could mean a Test debut for opener Keaton Jennings.

The 24-year-old South Africaborn left-handed batsman has been called up as Hameed’s replacement.

But England will be boosted by the likely return of fast bowler Stuart Broad, who has recovered from a strained tendon in his foot.