What is common between Anshul Kamboj and Anil Kumble? Haryana pacer makes debut in India-England Manchester Test

The crucial fourth Test between India and England at Old Trafford in Manchester saw the debut of the 318^th Indian Test cricketer – Anshul Kamboj. It is likely to be baptism by fire for the 24-year-old medium pacer from Haryana, as the visitors need to win this match to keep the five-Test series alive, which they trail 1-2.

 

He was called in as a cover after the Lord's Test, because of injuries to Nitish Kumar Reddy, Akash Deep and Arshdeep Singh. Kamboj reached the UK on Sunday and caught the eye of coach Gautam Gambhir at the nets.

 

He will be stepping into the boots of the illustrious pacer Akash Deep, who missed this match because of an injury. But, it was not all chance that facilitated his entry into the Indian Test squad. Kamboj impressed all in the two unofficial Tests against England Lions, picking up five wickets, despite having more experienced bowlers such as Mukesh Kumar and Harshit Rana for company.

 

Hailing from a humble family in Karnal's Fazilpur village, Kamboj’s Test debut was the culmination of a decade-long struggle on multiple fronts. At one point, he had even considered quitting cricket and taking up a job to support his family. His father, Udham Singh has had several episodes of epilepsy over the past decade, while his mother had a kidney stone procedure recently and was hospitalised when he left for Manchester.

 

From a young lad who was enrolled in the cricket academy by his father just to lose weight, to honing his skills under the watchful eyes of his childhood coach Satish Rana, to representing India in Tests, Kamboj has come a long way. His consistent performances almost earned him a spot in the U-19 World Cup in 2020, before an injury forced him to miss the tournament.

 

But, Kamboj returned to domestic cricket with renewed vigour. He made his First Class debut for Haryana in February 2022 against Tripura in the Ranji Trophy. In the 2024-25 season, he helped Haryana lift the Vijay Hazare Trophy, taking 17 wickets in 10 matches.

 

Last year, he made history, becoming only the third bowler in Ranji Trophy (Bengal's Premangsu Chatterjee and Rajasthan's Pradeep Sundaram being the others) to take all 10 wickets in an innings – he took 10/49 in 30.1 overs against Kerala.

 

Interestingly, he has a couple of things in common with the legendary leggie Anil Kumble. Kamboj, too, has a 10-wicket haul in an innings in First Class cricket (10/74 against Pakistan on February 7, 1999, in New Delhi), and also made his Test debut at Old Trafford in Manchester.

 

In IPL 2024, he was bought by the Mumbai Indians for Rs 20 lakh at the mega auction but played only three matches. He was released and signed up by Chennai Super Kings for Rs 3.4 crore ahead of IPL 2025.

 

Jaiswal, Rahul take India to 78 for no loss at lunch

 

Yashasvi Jaiswal (36*) survived a probing spell from Chris Woakes while KL Rahul (40*) looked solid as ever to steer India to 78 for no loss at lunch on day one of the fourth Test against England in Manchester on Wednesday.

 

England skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bowl. Grappling with a spate of injuries, India made three changes to their playing XI, bringing in Sai Sudharsan, Shardul Thakur and Kamboj in place of Karun Nair, Reddy and Akash Deep.

 

England also made a change with Liam Dawson replacing fellow spinner Shoaib Bashir, who suffered a hand injury in the third Test at the Lord's.

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