England pick pacer Robinson and spinner Bashir, but still backing Bairstow

Jonny Bairstow. Pic/PTI

England have recalled pacer Ollie Robinson and leggie Shoaib Bashir to replace Mark Wood and Rehan Ahmed respectively in the playing XI for their must-win fourth Test against India here. The English team management have also backed under-fire middle-order batter Jonny Bairstow, who has had a dismal tour with the bat (102 runs in 6 innings) thus far.

It was expected that someone like Dan Lawrence could come into this game in place of Bairstow. Apart from being a handy middle-order batter, Lawrence could also have chipped in with his off-spin on a scratchy-looking Ranchi deck. However, the England think-tank are backing Bairstow's "quality" ahead of Lawrence's versatility.

"If batters have a tough time over a short period, it will come under scrutiny. I don't look at it like that. I look at what Jonny has contributed for a long time since I've been captain. He is a quality player. He's someone who has been very integral to what we've done," Stokes said about Bairstow's selection.

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The playing XI also has 41-year-old James Anderson, who will be playing his third Test on the trot. The Lancashire seamer, who is just four wickets away from a milestone 700 Test scalps, was part of the defeats at Visakhapatnam and Rajkot where he made the ball, both new and old, move. "If you're a young fast bowler, Jimmy Anderson is one person you want as your role model. Not only the amount of wickets he's got, but the fact that he can keep going at his age - backing a very high workload Test match and still being fit and raring to go. Jimmy an unbelievable role model to all young kids out there who want to be a fast bowler when they grow up," said Stokes.

Finally, addressing the possibility of him bowling in this match, Stokes said: "I'll just have to wait and see how everything is. It's the longest I have bowled in six months, so let's see how everything pulls up."

England's playing XI:
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Tom Hartley, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson, Shoaib Bashir