England Prepares for Crucial Fourth Test Against India at Old Trafford
England's Preparations for the Manchester Test
Manchester [UK], July 22: Ben Stokes, the captain of England, along with head coach Brendon McCullum, was spotted inspecting the pitch ahead of the upcoming Test match against India, set to commence on Wednesday.
Currently, England leads the five-match series 2-1 after a narrow victory by 22 runs in the third Test at Lord's. The fourth Test will take place at Old Trafford, where India aims to level the series.
In a recent announcement, England has included left-arm spinner Liam Dawson in their squad for the fourth Test, marking a significant change from the team that triumphed at Lord's.
Dawson, who is 35 years old, replaces Shoaib Bashir, who is sidelined due to a finger fracture sustained while fielding during the third Test. Bashir had been England's primary spinner in the initial matches of the series.
This will be Dawson's first Test appearance since 2017, making a comeback to the format after an eight-year hiatus. He debuted against India in 2016 and has taken seven wickets across three Test matches.
His selection comes after an impressive County Championship season, where he has claimed 21 wickets in nine matches for Hampshire.
England has retained the other ten players from their thrilling win over India, maintaining a 2-1 advantage in the ICC World Test Championship series.
Reflecting on the Lord's Test, India's Mohammed Siraj faced an unfortunate dismissal due to a mishap involving Shoaib Bashir, which ended India's resistance and left Ravindra Jadeja stranded in a heartbreaking 22-run defeat.
Despite their dominance for significant portions of the match, India fell short, with Jasprit Bumrah shining as a key player, taking seven wickets, including a five-wicket haul in the first innings.
England's lineup for the Manchester Test includes: Ben Stokes (c), Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, Liam Dawson, Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, and Jofra Archer.
India's squad features: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, and Kuldeep Yadav.