India vs England 4th T20I Live Score: ENG Wins Toss, Chooses to Bowl First in Pune

India vs England 4th T20I Live Score: Saqib Mahmood made his first appearance in the series, and what an entrance it was, as he took two wickets with only his very first two balls in just twelve balls of play during the fourth T20I match between India and England held at Pune. He went on to take his third wicket on the very next ball of the same over, smashing a rare triple-wicket maiden against India. Displaced from any hope of getting closer to a respectable total, Saqib saw to it that Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma were dismissed with his very first two balls of the tour and Suryakumar fell off the last ball.

The toss was finally won by Jos Buttler, having lost in all three previous games in the series, and England decided to field. In contrast to Washington Sundar, who was dropped, India has brought in Rinku Singh and junior Arshdeep Singh for Dhruv Jurel and Mohammed Shami, respectively, while Shivam Dube has been added for more fire in their middle order.

Also Read: Kejriwal Responds to EC on Yamuna Poisoning Remark, Accuses Poll Body of ‘Shooting the Messenger’

A tale between India's spinners and England's pacers has seen the batters on either side turning hot and cold ever since. India won the first battle with some style and then barely won the second match thanks to Tilak Varma. In the third, earning a five-wicket haul was no consolation against an eventual defeat. England appears to have been getting better with a win in their style in these conditions and so India would know for sure where their task lies in terms of keeping the lead in the series henceforth.

From the perspective of today, at least a few of India's batters, in particular, the openers Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma, will be under scrutiny. Their positions are going to be threatened by Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill upon their return to the T20 fray. Samson had done enough prior to this series to earn an extended run in the position with three centuries in four innings. But here, he looked to be found out by Jofra Archer and Co. Abhishek Sharma played a blinder in the first T20I but had little influence in the second and third matches.

In the first T20I, Captain Suryakumar Yadav fell for a two-ball duck but could not convert his starts in the second and third. He has now scored just 52 runs in his last six innings and for the first time is going six innings without a fifty in T20Is. Ryan Ten Doeschate, a stand-in coach, has stated that India does not care much about this since it was bound to happen once some of the batters kept up a healthy-risk kind of a game.

Also Read: Lost Faith in Arvind Kejriwal: 7 AAP MLAs Quit Party After Ticket Denial Ahead of Delhi Polls

"Surya's set such high standards set by himself, and I wouldn't say consistency or predictability is a particularly high marker in T20 cricket," Ten Doeschate said. "All we ask from these guys is to go out and score really quickly and the way the international T20 game has gone, I suppose we are allowed a bit of consistency and a lean patch like he is going through at the moment."

The English plan to go one hundred percent against Indian bowlers, especially against the spinners, almost worked to perfection at Chepauk in the second T20I. The fact remains, however, that probably they were going to stick with the same strategy for the Rajkot third T20I irrespective of if it didn't work at all in Chennai. That, though, is the Bazball way. They have their work cut out against a team that won 15 out of 18 T20Is played after the culmination of the 2024 T20 World Cup in India. Moreover, having not conceded a single series at home for the last 17 occasions, it was only the Australian series in February 2019 where India felt defeat, suffering a 2-0 loss.

Also Read: ‘Insult to Tribals’: PM Modi Slams Sonia Gandhi Over ‘Poor Thing’ Remark on President Murmu