The last time India were in Manchester for a Test match was back in 2021 and it was a pretty bleak affair. An outbreak of Covid-19 among their backroom staff saw the series finale called off just 90 minutes before the toss, even if many suspected the proximity of the rescheduled Indian Premier League also had a role to play here.
“I saw Lanky the Giraffe walking into the ground with his head slumped,” said Tom Harrison, then chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board, after crossing paths with Lancashire’s club mascot that morning. “It summed up my feelings too.”
Other than the usual concerns about weather in these parts – and the forecast looks better than what was a soggy last day of training – Lanky has reason to be a bit more chipper this time around. After that niggly classic at Lord’s, send-offs, sledging et al, England sit 2-1 up with two to play, making this Test match one of two chances to claim what would be a first series victory over India in seven years.
Results under Ben Stokes have been strong overall, with his win rate of 61.11% second only to WG Grace (61.53) among England captains in double figures. But going by the short-term addition of Gilbert Enoka to the staff – the former All Blacks coach has been hired to work on “culture, training and mindset” this summer – he and Brendon McCullum are keen to take the project to the next level.
This ultimately means winning Test series against the other members of the so-called Big Three, something which is yet to occur under the pair. Wrapping things up early against India could even assist the planning for Australia this winter by allowing for experimentation at the Oval – not that anyone is thinking that far ahead.
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Fourth Test teams
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England (confirmed): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Liam Dawson, Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer
India (possible): Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Anshul Kamboj, Mohammed Siraj
Indeed, as Manchester comes down from the recent Oasis reunion gigs in Heaton Park, England are trying to be here now.
They have parachuted 35-year-old Liam Dawson into the XI for the injured Shoaib Bashir and a first cap since 2017, and kept faith with 36-year-old Chris Woakes. The latter comes in spite of seven wickets at 56 in this series and the greater flexibility that Dawson’s return at No 8 clearly allowed.
“Woaksey has a very good record here,” said Stokes, when asked about this. “Outside of the rewards that he hasn’t had with the ball, he is a very important player for us. He adds control with the ball, it is handy having him down the order, and we won last week, so we didn’t see there was a necessary change to make.”
That record is pretty stellar, it should be said, Woakes having taken 35 wickets at 17 at Old Trafford. But had Gus Atkinson been up to speed – England’s concerns are clearly shared by Surrey, given they opted against using him this week – a second change may well have occurred. Josh Tongue was the other seamer but with Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse in situ, triple pace was not a blend England fancied.
Though not by design, Stokes stressed, it also means England now have a notably deep batting lineup, with Carse, a player who boasts two first-class centuries and made what proved a critical 56 at Lord’s last week, carded at No 10. But then how much this lower order insurance will be needed is something of an unknown.
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Lancashire have played out stalemates at Old Trafford in Division Two this season, with Saqib Mahmood, who played in two, bemoaning pitches that were “concrete slabs”. The hope is that the end of the heatwave and the recent rain will bring a touch more zip. Certainly Stokes, who expressed his disappointment at the surfaces so far this series, would love the bounce once associated with the ground to return.
Gautam Gambhir, India’s head coach, had a long look at the pitch 24 hours out from the toss and what he saw was a touch more grass than at Lord’s. Having lost Akash Deep to a groin injury, Gambhir has asked Jasprit Bumrah to go again. Although even with the world’s No 1 bowler supposedly limited to three outings on this tour, it would have been strange to leave him out given the current scoreline.
Otherwise, and in contrast to England, India will keep everyone guessing as to their final XI, with captain Shubman Gill joking that it is nice to “keep some mystery”. The talk is that Sai Sudharsan could return at No 3, having been dropped after the defeat in Leeds, with Karun Nair sliding back down to No 6. There may also be a debut for seamer Anshul Kamboj and a possible comeback for all-rounder Shardul Thakur.
Injuries to Deep and Nitish Kumar Reddy notwithstanding, this potential rejig gives the impression of India being slightly confused. Although the same was said before their first ever Test win at Edgbaston. And if the tourists can similarly break their duck at Old Trafford, a finale worthy of a hard-fought series will come to pass this time.
