Jasprit Bumrah is set to play the fourth Test in what will most likely be his last appearance in the ongoing India vs England series as the Shubman Gill-led side aims to keep the hopes of a series win alive with a good performance in Manchester. India have lost the first and third Test but dished out a clinical performance in the second Test and the series is now at 2-1 in England's favour with two more games remaining.
India have made a few changes so far in their Playing XIs in the last two Test and the fourth Test will also see some shake-up. Nitish Kumar Reddy is out of the series with knee injury while Akash Deep is also unlikely to feature. Arshdeep Singh, who would have got a chance in case of Akash's absence, is also injured and that has forced India to call up Haryana pacer Anshul Kamboj. The pacer who plays for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League is a frontrunner to make his debut in the Old Trafford Test.
Kamboj will fight for a place in the Playing XI with Prasidh Krishna who was dropped after two terrible matches on this tour.
India will also have to replace Reddy who was being trusted as a pace-bowling all-rounder. Reddy did not score much in the two Tests he played but got three important wickets in the Lord's Test which India lost by 22 runs. His absence would force India to change their combination. Gill can bring in all-rounder Shardul Thakur in Reddy's place or India can go batting heavy and add Sai Sudharsan to the Playing XI.
Whatever the team decides, it looks certain that Kuldeep Yadav will continue to be on the bench.
Rishabh Pant looked fit in the practice sessions ahead of the match and he will take the gloves. Karun Nair too seems set to play as assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate backed the veteran to score big.
India's likely XI for 4th Test
KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Karun Nair, Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Anshul Kamboj, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
England Playing XI For The 4th Test:
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (vc), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Liam Dawson, Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer.
