Ben Stokes won his fourth consecutive toss of the series and decided to field first at Manchester. Injury hit India made three changes in the side with Sai Sudarsan replacing Karun Nair and Shardul Thakur and Anshul Kamboj replacing Nitish Kumar Reddy and Akash Deep Singh. England, led by Ben Stokes, have confirmed their playing XI with just one change. Liam Dawson comes into the side to replace Shoaib Bashir, who has been ruled out of the remainder of the series after sustaining a finger injury during the third Test.
After a heartbreaking 22-run defeat in a thrilling third Test at Lord’s, Shubman Gill’s India will look to bounce back and level the five-match Anderson Tendulkar series following a much-needed break. England clinched the opening Test at Headingley by five wickets, while India responded strongly with a win at Edgbaston to bring the series level at 1-1. However, England regained the lead and now sit ahead 2-1 going into the fourth Test. Team India face an uphill task with multiple injury setbacks forcing changes. Nitish Kumar Reddy has been ruled out of the series, while Arshdeep Singh will miss the Manchester Test due to injury. Additionally, pacer Akash Deep is set to miss the fourth Test because of a groin issue.
IND vs ENG 4th Test Playing XI:
India – Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Anshul Kamboj, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
England – Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Liam Dawson, Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer
What Did Captains Say
Ben Stokes: 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. Everyone left everything out on the field at Lord’s. We’ve had three games go down to the final session, which says a lot about the quality of the teams. Typical Manchester wicket. Quite firm. Some grass. Dawson back in the team – long time since the last Test but he’s gone well over the years.
Shubman Gill: I was actually confused. Good toss to lose. The way we’ve played in the last three Tests has been outstanding. Some crunch moments we’ve lost, but we’ve won more sessions than them. 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. Three changes: Sai Sudharsan comes in place of Karun. Kamboj and Shardul are in as well for Akash Deep and Reddy who are injured.