Green when seen from a distance, open field when seen closely, Ben Stokes was blown away after seeing the pitch of Ranchi – Dainik Savera Times

Ranchi: The fourth Test of the five-match Test series between India and England is to be played in Ranchi from Friday. Meanwhile, England captain Ben Stokes looked surprised by the Ranchi Test pitch. He says that he has never seen such a pitch before. The Ranchi Test pitch looks grassy from a distance, but when seen closely, it has many cracks. Vice-captain Ollie Pope had said on Wednesday that there were already cracks in the pitch, indicating that turn and uneven bounce would be in effect from the start.

Stokes said, ‘It looked interesting, didn’t it? I don’t know, I’ve never seen anything like this before so I have no idea. I don’t know what could happen. If you look down one side of the opposite ends it looked completely different from what I am used to seeing, especially in India. In the changing-room it looked green and grassy, ​​but then you go there, it looked different.’

However, the spin-friendly pitch will bring England spinners Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir and Rehan Ahmed into the equation in Ranchi, where they aim to level the five-match series against India, but Ollie Robinson will be included in the playing eleven in place of Mark Wood. There is discussion of inclusion.

Stokes did not clarify anything when asked about the possibility of bowling in Ranchi. He said, ‘Before the surgery, I was told 12 to 13 weeks to start bowling. I’m two weeks ahead of him. But let’s see how everything goes. If I feel I am capable of bowling, I will bowl. ‘My knee was absolutely fine while bowling on Wednesday. It was nice to break that 20 minute barrier, which I’m working on at the moment.