Manchester Test: What changes can we expect to India's playing XI for the fourth Test against England?
Making changes midway through a Test series is always tough, especially for an Asian side that is having an overseas series outside the sub-continent. India find themselves in that terrain, trailing 1-2 with the fourth Test set to begin in four days at Old Trafford, Manchester.
Truth be told, Shubman Gill's side have not fared badly so far. In fact, if we take a session-by-session breakdown of the series, India have probably won more sessions than England. Yet, it is Ben Stokes's boys that are in front and that is due to India's inability to deal with crunch situations. They've also committed far too many basic errors in the field and while batting.
The 22-run defeat Lord's meant that India cannot afford another loss in the series, virtually putting them in do-or-die territory. As such, changes are imminent but to what extent will be the question. The major two concerns for the team revolve around Rishabh Pant's fitness and Karun Nair's lack of runs in the series. While the India vice-captain is recovering at a good rate, he still doesn't seem fully ready to keep wickets. India, though, would be willing to risk Pant at Manchester, given that the series is still alive.
However, if Pant has to play, it will most certainly be as a specialist batter. That would mean a spot for Dhruv Jurel who would take over the duties behind the stumps, like he had done as the substitute during the Lord's Test. Apart from his excellence as keeper, Jurel has already shown promise as a technically sound batter, fully capable of dealing with potent bowling attacks. Should India go down this route, Karun Nair will have to make way, which could mean another new no.3 for India in the series.
Assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate at a press interaction on Thursday (July 17) had stated that the think tank is fully backing Nair to come good. The Karnataka batter has had a few starts in the series but hasn't been able to convert them into bigger scores. If Nair does sit out, India will have to wonder about the no.3 spot unless they go for Jurel in a proper like-for-like move in the batting department. As things stand, Nair will have to depend on Pant's fitness to retain his spot in the playing XI.
The other major concern will be about the composition of the pace attack for Manchester. Jasprit Bumrah is likely to play, despite the medical staff's generic advice to not feature in successive Tests. This one-off case could be due to the context of the series and the lengthy break between the third and fourth Tests. However, who the other two pacers would be is a tricky matter for the management. Akash Deep, who was exceptional in Edgbaston, looked off-colour at Lord's and also seemed to be battling a few niggles during the game.
Meanwhile, Arshdeep Singh hurt his finger while training on Wednesday (July 17) when a Sai Sudharsan stroke hit the pacer while he was trying to stop the ball. Speaking of the left-hand batter from Tamil Nadu, he too is in with a chance to make the playing XI if Pant retains full fitness. It could then come down to a toss up between Nair and Sudharsan. Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur are the other pace options, and it comes down to the duo, Thakur might get the nod with his batting being a huge plus. Also, Krishna didn't quite hit his straps consistently in the first two Tests.
Over the next few days, we'll get a clearer picture over what India's playing XI will be. For the moment, it appears to be a jigsaw puzzle that has too many variables in it.
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