Manchester: An injury-plagued India is likely to go back to the Headingley template when it takes on a reinvigorated England in the fourth Test starting here on Wednesday, hoping to end a winless record at the storied Old Trafford and draw level in what has been a compelling series so far.
Following the first Test in Leeds, India had found a settled line-up by fielding three all-rounders in the playing eleven including Nitish Reddy, who has now been ruled of the series due to a knee injury.
Pacer Akash Deep was also ruled out on the eve of the Test due to a groin injury, and captain Shubman Gill said uncapped fast bowler Anshul Kamboj is on the verge of making his debut.
With Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar being the two spin bowling all-rounders, India had the cushion of batting till number eight but that may not be the case in Manchester, where the visitors are yet to win in nine attempts including four losses and five draws. England are leading 2-1 going into the penultimate game of the rubber.
Shardul Thakur, who played the series-opener, would be the direct replacement for Reddy in the playing eleven but he doesn’t provide the same batting quality. If selected, he would have to up his game with the ball too as Reddy had produced timely wickets in the third Test at Lord’s.
Considering the options available, India could also go back to the combination they played at Leeds where they had only one spinner in Jadeja and there were specialist batters till number six with both Karun Nair and Sai Sudharsan in the playing eleven.
Also in the mix are Kamboj and Prasidh Krishna, and either of them can come in for Akash Deep.
Like Akash Deep, Kamboj can generate plenty of seam movement and he also looked in good shape in the first outdoor training session ahead of the high-stakes contest. He was also a part of India A’s shadow tour of England.
Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and workhorse Mohammed Siraj are two certain starters in the playing eleven.
Lord’s was the first time in the series that Indian batters faltered and the Gill-led line-up would be looking to course correct with all to play for.
Despite low returns in the third Test, Gill has aggregated more than 600 runs in the series and from the team’s point of view, he would need to return to his heavy scoring ways.
Jofra Archer got the better of Yashasvi Jaiswal twice in his successful return to Test cricket and the young Indian left-hander would be better prepared to deal with the extra pace of the England fast bowler.
Gill has been the team’s leading run getter but someone who has looked most assured in the middle across six innings is K L Rahul, having provided a batting masterclass in English conditions at the top of the order.
After the training session 48 hours before the game, Rishabh Pant appeared to have fully recovered from his finger injury and would be performing his dual duties as usual. Gill has also confirmed his participation as wicketkeeper at the pre-match press conference.
If Nair gets another opportunity, he would be desperate to convert his starts into a big score. With four 50-plus scores on the trot, Jadeja has been rock solid in the middle order but is expected to do more with the ball.
Compared to other venues in the country, India don’t play that regularly here with their last outing at Old Trafford coming in 2014. The last hundred from an Indian at this ground came from the bat of Sachin Tendulkar way back in 1990.
While India are in a must-win situation, England are in the driver’s seat having taken the series lead at Lord’s.
Like they usually do, Ben Stokes picked his playing eleven before the game and the only change for Wednesday is Liam Dawson coming in for the injured Shoaib Bashir. The left-arm spinner last played for England in July 2017.
It has been raining regularly in Manchester for the past week or so and there is forecast for light showers for the majority of the five days.
Considering the damp weather, there would be moisture to exploit for the fast bowlers on day one.
Tempers flaring on both sides has added to the excitement of the series and Old Trafford promises to be another cracker.
“Every game we’ve played so far has gone into the last hour of the game, which you do not see very often. I’ve had a lot of people come up to me saying ‘it’s been an amazing series, thank you’.
“Everybody said that the Lord’s game was one of the best games that they’ve watched, so it’s been an amazing series and I’m looking forward to the rest of it,” said Harry Brook.
Squads:
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India: Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Anshul Kamboj.
England XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (vc), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Liam Dawson, Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer.
