Courtesy: BCCI
After going down by 22-run margin in the third Test at Lord’s, the Indian cricket team will once again take the field against their England counterparts in the fourth Test, set to be played from July 23 to July 27 at the Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester. While the Men in Blue will hope to level the series in Manchester after earlier winning the second Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham.
As the two skippers took the field for the toss, it was once again the English skipper, Ben Stokes who came out on top and elected to bowl first. “We're going to have a bowl. Decent overhead conditions for bowling. We've had a good break in between. Good chance for everyone to head back home and get the batteries recharged,” Stokes said at the toss, while confirming Liam Dawson as the only change, replacing injured Shoaib Bashir.
India makes three changes; Sai Sudharshan comes in place of Karun Nair
On the other hand, the Indian skipper, who has been on a four-match toss losing streak, confirmed that it was a good toss to lose as he was a bit confused. Meanwhile, on being asked of the XI after Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep and Akash deep were confirmed to miss the fourth Test, Gill announced of three changes. While Shardul Thakur made a return in place of Nitish Kumar, Anshul Kambij was handed his debut cap, making way in place of Akash Deep.
Meanwhile, what came as a surprise was Karun Nair being snubbed of place despite Gill backing him on the eve of the fourth Test. Notably, Nair made way for Sai Sudharsan, who made his Test debut in the first Test. It is to be noted that Nair, who made his return in India whites after over seven years, and has so far scored 131 runs across the six innings with his highest score coming in the first innings of Lord’s Test.
England vs India fourth Test Playing XI
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes(c), Jamie Smith(w), Liam Dawson, Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Anshul Kamboj
