Joe Root hit an unbeaten 67 to rebuild the England innings after Indian debutant Akash Deep took three wickets to put the tourists in early trouble in the fourth Test on Friday.

England, who are fighting to stay alive in the five-match series at 2-1 down, battled to 198-5 at tea after electing to bat first in Ranchi.

Former skipper Root and wicketkeeper-batsman Ben Foakes, on 28, put on an unbeaten stand of 86 to thwart the Indian attack in the second session.

Root raised his first fifty of the series after managing just 77 runs over the previous six innings and receiving criticism for throwing away his wicket off a reverse scoop in the losing third match.

Root and Foakes kept calm in an uncharacteristically patient show of batting by England that was a temporary departure from their attacking "Bazball" style.

The 27-year-old Deep replaced Jasprit Bumrah, who has been rested, and had a scintillating start after being awarded his first Test cap by coach Rahul Dravid.

Deep thought he had got opener Zak Crawley on four only to overstep the crease for a no-ball.

Crawley, who went on to make 42, counter-attacked and hammered Mohammed Siraj for four straight boundaries, including three fours and a six.

Deep got his first international wicket when Ben Duckett was caught behind for 11.

He struck again two balls later to trap Ollie Pope lbw for duck, a decision denied by the on-field umpire but successfully reviewed by India after the tracker showed the ball would have hit the top of leg stump.

Deep then bowled Crawley on another beauty that darted into the opener and rattled the stumps, as England slipped to 57-3 in only the first hour of play.

Root and Jonny Bairstow put together 52 runs before Ravichandran Ashwin had Bairstow lbw on 38 in another successful Indian review.

Skipper Ben Stokes was trapped lbw by Ravindra Jadeja at the stroke of lunch for three to leave England in serious trouble.

Deep's dream debut leaves England five down at lunch

Debutant Indian fast bowler Akash Deep took three early wickets including Ollie Pope for a duck to leave England in trouble at 112-5 at lunch in the fourth Test on Friday.

India's Akash Deep celebrates with teammates after the dismissal of England's Ben Duckett during the first day of the fourth Test in Ranchi on February 23, 2024. Photo: AFP

Joe Root was batting on 16 after Ravindra Jadeja trapped skipper Ben Stokes lbw for three on the last ball before the break in Ranchi.

Coach Rahul Dravid handed Deep his first Test cap and the debutant's mother watched on emotionally from the sidelines as he made a scintillating start.

The 27-year-old Deep replaced Jasprit Bumrah, who has been rested, as India's only change as they look to go 3-1 up in the five-match series.

Deep thought he had got opener Zak Crawley on four only to overstep the crease for a no-ball.

Crawley counter-attacked and hammered Mohammed Siraj for four straight boundaries, including three fours and a six, in the English openers' attempt to set the pace.

Deep got his first international wicket when Ben Duckett was caught behind for 11 on a delivery that nipped away from the left-hander.

Pope departed two balls later as Deep trapped the batsman lbw, a decision denied by the on-field umpire but successfully reviewed by India after the tracker showed the ball would have hit the top of leg stump.

Deep then bowled Crawley on another beauty that darted into the opener and rattled the stumps as England slipped to 57-3 in only the first hour of play.

Crawley made a run-a-ball 42 before his departure.

Root and Jonny Bairstow attempted to rebuild in a 57-run partnership that was broken by Ravichandran Ashwin when the off-spinner trapped Bairstow lbw on 38 in another successful Indian review.

England made two changes with Ollie Robinson and Shoaib Bashir coming in for Mark Wood and Rehan Ahmed, the latter leaving India due to "personal reasons".

England opt to bat; India's Akash Deep makes Test debut

England skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bat first against India in the fourth Test on Friday as they look to keep the series alive.

The tourists trail the five-match series 2-1 after two straight losses and need to win or draw in Ranchi to avoid losing the series with a game to spare.

England announced two changes to their team Thursday with spinner Shoaib Bashir and fast bowler Ollie Robinson coming in for Rehan Ahmed and Mark Wood.

Ahmed, a 19-year-old leg-spinner who took 11 wickets in the first three matches, has left the tour due to "personal reasons" and will not be returning to India.

He will not be replaced in the squad, England's cricket board said.

All-rounder Stokes, who previously said he would play purely as a batsman in the series because of his knee, has bowled in the nets and could do so in the Test.

India, led by Rohit Sharma, made one change from their crushing win by 434 runs in the third Test.

Fast bowler Akash Deep has been handed his first Test cap by coach Rahul Dravid to replace Jasprit Bumrah, who was rested after three matches.

Stokes said this week that he "had never seen anything like" the pitch in Ranchi, which has cracks in the track expected to help spinners.

India lost the opening Test by 28 runs but bounced back to win the next two.

Teams

India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj.

England: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (capt), Ben Foakes, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson, Shoaib Bashir, Tom Hartley.

Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SRI), Rod Tucker (AUS)

TV Umpire: Joel Wilson (WIS)

Match Referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)