Injury-hit India to ditch old formula against resilient England
Lord's was the first time in the series that Indian batters faltered and the Shubman Gill-led line-up would be looking to course correct with all to play for.
PTI
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Photo: PTI
Manchester, 22 July
An injury-plagued India could be forced to depart from its preferred
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.
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 uncapped pacer Anshul Kamboj and Prasidh Krishna.
Either of them can come in for Akash Deep if he is not able to recover fully
from his groin injury.
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 Shubman 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 KL Rahul, having provided a
batting masterclass in English conditions at the top of the order.
Considering the training session 48 hours before the game, Rishabh Pant
appears to have fully recovered from his finger injury and would be performing
his dual duties as usual.
If Nair gets another opportunity, he would be desperate to convert his
starts into a big score. With fourth 50-plus scores on the trot, Ravindra
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.
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