Pope happy to see 'interesting' pitch

ENGLAND vice-captain Ollie Pope has described the pitch for the fourth Test in Ranchi as "interesting" but believes this may favour the tourists after back-to-back defeats by India.

- DAVID CHARLESWORTH

The playing surface in the Jharkhand capital 48 hours out from the first day of the penultimate match has cracks running down one side of the cut strip and was watered yesterday morning before being briefly left to bake under the sun.

A crusted top layer formed before the area was covered all of which suggests some balls may explode off the ground and spinners from both sides are likely to be involved from the off.

India hold a 2-1 lead on pitches that have generally been slow turners, with the team that has won the toss coming out on top on all three occasions, but England are gearing up for lavish spin this week.