IND vs ENG: Did You Know Karun Nair Scored A Historic 303* During Liam Dawson's Test Debut?
With all-rounder Liam Dawson marking his return to the Test side for the first time since 2017, it's worth looking back at his debut red-ball match for England. The spin-bowling all-rounder had marked his first Test appearance in Chennai in 2016 and it was the same fixture where Karun Nair hit a historic triple-century.
Nair's unbeaten 303* kept the Englishmen on the field for a massive 190.4 overs as they finished at 759/7, with the right-hander's mammoth innings taking the cake. Although Dawson took two wickets, including that of Murali Vijay (29) and Ravindra Jadeja (51), it came at a cost of 129 in 43 overs. The veteran played only three Tests until being recalled as a cover for Shoaib Bashir, who sustained an injury during the Lord's Test.
Nevertheless, the all-rounder has been putting in the hard yards in the county circuit. In 212 first-class matches, Dawson has accumulated 10731 runs at 35.29 alongside 18 centuries. His left-arm spinner has yielded him 371 scalps.
England opt to bowl first at Old Trafford in Manchester
With Dawson playing his fourth Test, Ben Stokes has won the toss for the fourth consecutive time and opted to bowl first at Old Trafford. Although England had already announced their playing XI, India have surprisingly affected three changes to their side. B Sai Sudharsan, Anshul Kamboj and Shardul Thakur have come in for Karun Nair, Akash Deep and Nitish Kumar Reddy.
India playing XI: 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 playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes(c), Jamie Smith(w), Liam Dawson, Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer.
news