In a surprising move, India dropped Karun Nair from the playing XI just a day after captain Shubman Gill publicly backed the veteran batter. Nair has been replaced by the left-handed opener Sai Sudharsan for the decider 4th Test against England at Old Trafford, Manchester.
At Tuesday’s press conference, Gill has shown full support for Nair, saying, “We’ve had conversations with Karun, and he’ll turn around.” This gave the impression that Nair would be given one more chance despite a string of low scores. However, less than 24 hours later, the team’s management made the call to bench him. Nair’s recent form has been under the spotlight. He scored 0, 20, 31, 26, 40, and 14 in his last six innings, which wasn’t enough to hold onto his spot as India look to level the five-match series, which England currently leads 2-1.
Sai Sudharsan, who returns to the XI, played in the first Test but was dropped afterward. He was seen doing pitch inspection and light drills a day before the match, raising speculations around his return to the 4th Test match at Manchester after Nair’s poor performance. Known for his calm temperament and consistency in domestic cricket and the IPL, Sudharsan will now be expected to bring stability to India’s top order.
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In addition to Nair’s exclusion, India made two other changes. All-rounder Shardul Thakur replaced Nitish Kumar Reddy to add experience with both bat and ball, and debutant Anshul Kamboj, a young fast bowler, came in for Akash Deep. Once again, spinner Kuldeep Yadav was left out for this series after the injured players. India’s bowling attack will again rely on a mix of pace and part-time spin ,with the weather and pitch expected to play a major role.
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ENG vs IND playing XI for the 4th Test
England Playing XI:
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 Playing XI:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Anshul Kamboj, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
