Jofra Archer to Samson, no run, 142.2ks short of length and nips back in, Samson hops and ekes out an inside edge onto the thigh pad

Samson and Abhishek Sharma are at the crease. Samson is on strike. Jofra Archer will open the attack

The players are out in the middle.

Sanju Samson in T20Is
Batting 1st: Avg 31.76 | SR 163.08 | 3 X 100s | 2 X 50s
Chasing: Avg 16.09 | SR 121.23 | Highest 39

Buttler has won his first toss of the series and India will be batting first for the first time. The batting has been bolstered by the home side as Dube and Rinku come in, the former specifically brought in to tackle Rashind in the middle overs. Shami's return too last one game as he is back on the bench for this one. England have made a couple of changes as well - Mahmood gives them bit more control than Wood while Smith was injured in the previous game, so Bethell has another crack.

Teams:

India (Playing XI): Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakravarthy

England (Playing XI): Philip Salt(w), Ben Duckett, Jos Buttler(c), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Overton, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Saqib Mahmood

Suryakumar Yadav: It is all about coming here and playing good brand of cricket. Stick to the basics. We have left that game in Rajkot. Hopefully we put up an entertaining show for this crowd. Little bit on the drier, put runs on the board and defend.

England have won the toss and have opted to field

Jos Buttler: We are gonna bowl first this evening.

England have won the toss and have opted to field

"Arshdeep Singh is marking his run-up," informs Abhinav Mukund on air.

Pitch Report | Murali Kartik and Nick Knight: "There is always a breeze which blows and it's a pretty strong one. Dimensions - 65m and 64m square boundaries and a hit down the ground is 75m. Pitch - it's 60% red soil and 40% black soil. The red soil basically means that it has a little bit of carry and bounce, so there's a bit more in this surface than the black soil. That'll suit England a little bit. When you have a look at it, it's slightly deceiving, you can see the cracks but essentially we've got a covering of grass but it's dead grass and rolled in. I don't think it's going to play a major role. But it is pretty dry, you can see some cracks emerging, that then will suit some of the pace-off bowlers with their spin. So I am going to sit on the fence a little bit here. There's a bit in it for the pace bowlers and there's a bit in it for the spinners. When you look at the average score here, it's not a high-scoring ground. The curator says that the dew might set in around 8;30 although in practice it sets in around 6:30."

18:00 Local Time, 12:30 GMT: Kolkata, Chennai, Rajkot and now Pune. The scoreline is 2-1. England have fought back after losing the first two games and kept the series alive. With two ultra aggressive batting line ups you expected high-scoring contests, it has been anything but that. The bowlers, especially spinners, have dominated the series so far. Will that change today? Or will the bowlers once again have a say? Hello and welcome to the 4th T20I. After a comfortable win in the first game, it has not been smooth sailing for India, Tilak Varma's special knock got them over the line in the second and they were below par with the bat in the third. Rinku Singh returning should bolster the middle order which has looked vulnerable in the previous two outings. Arshdeep too might return at the expense of Washington Sundar, who bowled just the one over at Rajkot, and strengthen the bowling attack. Jos Buttler has been England's best batter but he needs more from his opening pair. Brydon Carse is another one having a good series with bat and ball. Jamie Smith injured his calf in the third T20I and that might make way for Jacob Bethell. We will know more about the playing XIs at the toss which is not far away.. Stay tuned

Preview by Vijay Tagore

Looks like it's not the best time to be an India skipper. Having been there and done that, Rohit Sharma would know it very well. Suryakumar Yadav must also be experiencing the difficulty of it. Scores of 21(17), 4(9), 1(4) and DNB in South Africa; 0(3), 12(7) and 14(7) in the current series are surely not the numbers that one is used to associating with Suryakumar. The difference, rather solace for Suryakumar, is that his Indian team is not losing, like Rohit's. India are leading the current series against England 2-1.

"I wouldn't say that consistency or predictability is a particularly high mark in T20 cricket," Ryan ten Doeschate, the team's assistant coach, said, understandably defending the captain. "The way the international T20 game has gone, we allow for a bit of inconsistency and a bit of a lean patch like he's going through at the moment. "Gauti (coach Gautam Gambhir) is very keen to back these guys and give them a long road, a long chance to prove themselves."

For what it is worth, the England team's strategy of bowling short through the express pace of Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Brydon Carse, did not make things easy for the home batters, Surya included. The skipper got out to the pacers, like most of his fellow batters, in all three matches so far.

England have mostly bowled short or hard length deliveries; there were very few deliveries that were pitched up to the frontline batsmen. The Englishmen have largely also banked on frenzied pace and that may explain the reason the visitors have left players like Sam Curran and Reece Topley out of the squad. Both were part of England's tour of the West Indies late last year.

The visitors are bowling with fire at the moment. The pace blitz is evidently working for Jos Buttler and he is expected to persist with the tactics in the fourth T20I here at Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Gahunje, Pune. The Westerly crosswinds through the ground can help their pace barrage, expected to be unleashed again by Archer & Co with solid support from veteran leggie Adil Rashid. It's a challenge and opportunity for the Indian batsmen and they should relish it.

The Indians, on the other hand, have been relying majorly on spin, with Varun Chakaravarty being the standout spinner. If the home team is leading the series, it is largely due to their spinners and they might continue with that strategy here in Pune. For the record, the Indian spinners have claimed 18 wickets as against eight from the pacers. England pacers have had double the success of Indian pacers and spinners half of it (four scalps). The different styles of attack in the series makes it a riveting one - a contest of contrasts.

When: Friday, January 31 at 7:00 PM IST

Where: MCA Stadium, Gahuje, Pune

What to expect: It's going to be a high-scoring match and if the totals don't exceed 200, something that was seen frequently in the last IPL, then it could be largely because of good bowling rather than assistance from the pitch. India will look to close the series on Friday itself but it would be easier hoped than achieved.

Teams watch:

India

Rinku Singh is back in the mix. In fact he never left the team and on Thursday India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate declared that he is fit. He was actually seen practising at the nets for a long time, an indication that he could feature in the XI in the match. Should he come into the XI, India may have to leave out Dhruv Jurel.

Tactics and Match-up: India used five spinners in the last game - Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi and Abhishek Sharma - as against two pacers - Mohammed Shami and Hardik Pandya. The spin-centric attack is expected to continue.

Probable XI: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakaravarthy

England

England have not announced their XI for the game but it is likely they may retain the XI that won the game for them in Rajkot. Any change, it would be a forced one. Some chatter is that Jamie Smith has a calf injury. If true, he could be replaced by Jacob Bethell.

Tactics & Match-ups: Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Brydon Carse have been effective and England are expected to continue with their pace power, wisely utilising Adil Rashid, who has stood out with his skill as much as guile.

Playing XI: Ben Duckett, Philip Salt (wk), Jos Buttler (c), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Overton, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood

Did you know?

- Harry Brook has tallied only 38 runs in the three matches in the series so far

- Varun Chakaravarthy is averaging 8.5 with the ball in this series

- Hardik Pandya needs two more wickets to draw level with Yuzvendra Chahal and become the joint second-highest wicket-taker for India in the format

Squads:

England Squad: Philip Salt, Ben Duckett, Jos Buttler(c), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jamie Smith(w), Jamie Overton, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Saqib Mahmood, Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethell, Rehan Ahmed

India Squad: Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Dhruv Jurel, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana