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On Tuesday, July 23, the Indian cricket team will return to action as they will lock horns with England in the fourth Test of the five-match series at the Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester. While the Men in Blue will hope to come out on top in this match, eyeing to level the series, England, on the other hand will hope to win the Test as well as the series before going to London for the fifth Test.
But ahead of the upcoming Test match, the Indian team suffered several setbacks. While Nitish Kumar Reddy and pacer Arshdeep Singh were ruled out of the Test match, Akash deep, who is struggling with a groin niggle was also confirmed to miss the fourth Test. Apart from this, the visitors are also sweating on Rishabh Pant’s fitness, who suffered blow to his index finger, refraining him to keep the wickets.
Rishabh Pant will keep wickets: Shubman Gill confirms
But on the eve of the fourth Test, the skipper of the visiting Indian team confirmed Rishabh Pant’s role in the crucial match in Manchester. Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Gill, when inquired of Pant, confirmed, “Rishabh Pant will keep wickets”, thus putting an end to rumours of him playing as a specialist batter.
On the other hand, Gill also hinted on Karun Nair getting another chance in the upcoming Test match. “Yes, we have had conversations with him, but we think he is batting well. The first match he didn't really play at this number. It's difficult when a player is making a comeback in a series like this. But I don't think there's been any issue with his batting. He's been batting well. Sometimes it's also about getting that click. Once you're able to make your fifty, then you're able to get back into your zone and get some big runs. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened for him so far, but, we are hopeful that he will be able to turn around,” Gill said.
India’s updated squad for fourth Test
Shubman Gill (C), 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, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Anshul Kamboj
