Ranchi pitch forces England to reconsider plans for fourth Test against India

The fourth Test between India and England, which begins in the eastern city of Ranchi on Friday, is posing unique challenges for both teams with anticipation of quick and early turn for spinners.

The pitch at the JSCA Stadium has raised eyebrows, with one end of the playing surface sporting an unusual number of cracks. That will be a departure from the relatively flatter wickets seen earlier in the Test series.

Whether the wicket holds any demons will be known only over the next few days, but it has already unsettled England captain Ben Stokes.

Stokes told British media late on Wednesday: "I've never seen something like that before. I don't know what could happen."

On Thursday, Stokes said his "overall thinking and understanding" of the wicket had not changed but added that he was keeping an open mind.

"We get asked about the pitch and we give our opinion, but that doesn't mean we are going in with too many preconceived ideas," Stokes said.

"The pitch could be as flat as a pancake, who knows? If it is, we will adapt to that.

"If it does more than we think it will, we will adapt to that as well. We won't let those conversations seep into what we do."

That meant England had to put their thinking caps on while selecting the playing XI.

Still recovering from their record defeat by 434 runs in Rajkot, England have brought in seamer Ollie Robinson and spinner Shoaib Bashir, replacing pacer Mark Wood and out-of-form Rehan Ahmed.

The expectation is that the pitch will offer inconsistent bounce, so control from bowlers is likely to be the deciding factor.

The Indians, on the other hand, saw no issue with the pitch.

"It's a typical Indian wicket, there are cracks, this wicket always had cracks," batting coach Vikram Rathour said.