India Vs England, 4th Test, Statistical Preview: Virat Kohli & Co aim to level score at Southampton

After a couple of morale-crushing defeats in the first two Tests (31 runs at Edgbaston) and (innings defeat at the Lord's), Virat Kohli registered a memorable victory in the third Test in Nottingham by 203 runs which helped them to bounce back in the five-match Test series.

Nottingham victory gave India hopes of coming from 0-2 down to win a five-match series, something achieved just once in the history of Test cricket, by a Don Bradman-inspired Australia against England in Ashes 1936/37. So for the Indian team to emulate such a feat the first step would be to opt for their best playing XI.

Interestingly, this is only the third Test at Southampton. England had previously played Sri Lanka (2011) and India (2014). England had won their last encounter against India in Southampton by 266 runs.

Head-to-head in Tests

Total Test Played- 120 times

• India- 26 Test Won
• England- 45 Test Won
• Draw- 49 Test Match

Head-to-head in Tests in England

Total Test Played- 60 times

• India - 6 Test Won
• England- 32 Test Won
• Draw – 21 Test Match

Facts and Figures: 

1. England pacer James Anderson needs 3 more wickets to reach 560 wicket mark in the Test arena. He needs 6 more wickets to equal Glenn McGrath's tally of Test wickets.
2. Indian skipper Virat Kohli needs 6 more runs to score 6,000 runs in the red-ball cricket.
3. Indian pacer Ishant Sharma needs one more wicket to reach the 250 wicket milestone in the longer format. If he able to get solitary wicket then he will become 7th Indian to scalp 250 wickets in the Test cricket.

Indian Squad:

Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant (wk), Karun Nair, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Hanuma Vihari, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.

England Squad:

Joe Root (c), Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Oliver Pope, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Sam Curran, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes, Ben Stokes, James Vince.