Seamer Anshul Kamboj made his Test debut as England won the toss and elected to bowl first against India in the fourth Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Test at Old Trafford on Wednesday. India also brought in B Sai Sudharsan and Shardul Thakur.
England lead the five-match series 2-1 after a dramatic 22-run victory in the third Test at Lord’s. Kamboj, now the 318th Test player for India, replaced Akash Deep, who is out with a groin injury sustained during the Lord’s Test.
Anil Kumble was the last Indian cricketer to make his Test debut in Manchester.
Interestingly, both Kumble and Kamboj have recorded 10-wicket hauls in an innings in first-class cricket. Sudharsan replaced Karun Nair, while Shardul came in for Nitish Kumar Reddy, who has been ruled out of the series with a left knee injury.
India Makes Three Changes
India entered the Test with four seamers and the left-arm spin of Ravindra Jadeja.
“I was a bit confused. The surface looks good; a good toss to lose. Our performances in the last three matches have been outstanding, but we lost key moments. All three Tests were intense till the last hour. The pitch looks hard, and there’s some forecast over the next few days,” said India skipper Shubman Gill.
England made one change as Liam Dawson replaced injured spinner Shoaib Bashir. Dawson returned to Test cricket after eight years.
“Some decent overhead conditions for bowling, so that’s what we’ll do. We had a good break since Lord’s, and the team is ready to go. The cricket from both teams has been outstanding. We have gone toe-to-toe, and hopefully, we finish on the right side this week,” said England captain Ben Stokes, winning his fourth toss of the series.
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, Jofra Archer.
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Anshul Kamboj, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
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