India vs England 4th Test: Predicted Playing XI And Pitch Report At Old Trafford

India and England are all set for the fourth Test of the five-match series, which kicks off on July 23 at Old Trafford in Manchester.

India under pressure after 3rd Test loss

India played really good in the Edgbaston match and won it, so fans were happy. But in the next match, they couldn’t chase only 193 runs and lost badly. It was very disappointing for the team.

This team is young and some main players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and R Ashwin are not playing. So the team is not looking strong in every match.

One good thing was that Jasprit Bumrah came back. He bowled very well in the last match and he will lead the bowling again in the next one.

Karun Nair’s form is concern, Easwaran can get a chance

Karun Nair is not doing well. He played three matches but only scored 131 runs. He started okay but didn’t make big runs.

So maybe the team will give chance to Abhimanyu Easwaran. He is doing well in domestic matches and maybe now he will get his first match.

That might prompt the team management to try someone else at the top. Abhimanyu Easwaran could finally get his chance after being on the fringes for a while.

Even Michael Vaughan hinted that Nair’s run might be over after his showing at Lord’s. With all the talk going around, Easwaran’s solid performances in domestic cricket might just earn him a Test debut.

Kuldeep Yadav could replace Washington Sundar

Washington Sundar had a decent outing with the ball at Lord’s, especially in the second innings, but his batting didn’t quite click.

In a must-win situation, India might look to go with a more attacking spinner. Kuldeep Yadav brings wrist-spin variety and could be the X-factor India needs.

With the Old Trafford pitch known to take turn as the game goes on, Kuldeep might be the better option to help India bowl out England twice.

Predicted playing XI and what to expect from the pitch

Here’s how the Indian XI could look for the fourth Test:

KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Reddy, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.

England, on the other hand, are likely to stick with the same team that won them the third Test at Lord’s:
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Liam Dawson, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer.

As for the pitch in Manchester, it usually offers pace and bounce early on, which should please the quicks. But as the match wears on, spin could come into play—especially during the last two days.

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