Manchester: Seamer Anshul Kamboj has been handed a Test debut while B Sai Sudharsan and Shardul Thakur have also been included in India’s playing XI as England won the toss and elected to bowl first against India in the fourth Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Test at Old Trafford Wednesday.
England are leading the five-match series 2-1 after a dramatic 22-run win in the third Test at Lord’s. Kamboj, who is now the 318th Test cricketer to play for India, replaces Akash Deep, who is down with a groin injury, he picked in third Test at Lord’s.
Notably, Anil Kumble was the last Indian cricketer to make his Test debut in Manchester. Coincidentally, both Kumble and Kamboj have a 10-wicket haul in an innings in first-class cricket.
Sudharsan, meanwhile, comes in for Karun Nair, while Shardul replaces Nitish Kumar Reddy, who is ruled out of the series due to a left knee injury.
The three changes have meant that India go in with four seam-bowling options plus left-arm spin of Ravindra Jadeja.
“I was actually a bit confused. The surface looks pretty good; a good toss to lose. I think the way we have played in the last three matches has been outstanding… it’s just small, crunch moments we have lost. All of the Test matches have been very intense, going up to the last hour of the final day. You need a bit of a break. All three Tests were intense. Looks like a good surface. Nice and hard. There’s some forecast around for the four-five days,” said India skipper Shubman Gill.
On the other hand, England have one change; injured Shoaib Bashir has made way for Liam Dawson who returns to the Test side after eight years.
“Some decent overhead conditions here for bowling, so that’s what we’re going to do. We’ve had a good break between the Lord’s Test and this one, an opportunity for everyone to get those batteries recharged and hit the ground running here.
“Everyone left everything out on that outfield at Lord’s on that last day, it was a phenomenal team effort. The cricket so far has been absolutely outstanding from both teams. We have been going toe-to-toe, there’s not been a lot between the teams and hopefully we play some good cricket this week and come out on the right side of things,” said skipper Ben Stokes, who won the toss for the fourth straight time.
Playing XIs
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (wk), Liam Dawson, Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse and Jofra Archer
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Anshul Kamboj, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Siraj.
