Updates:
England captain Ben Stokes wins the toss again as he opts to bowl first in the overcast conditions of Old Trafford in Manchester. 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.
Preview:
The caravan of the high-profile Test series between England and India has reached the Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester. The two sides will lock horns on day one of the fourth Test on July 23, Wednesday, hoping to take the early initiative but rain is expected to hinder the proceedings.
Team India had won handsomely by 336 runs in the second Test at Edgbaston to level the series after the defeat at Headingley. Nevertheless, they struggled a touch at Lord's, where England shelved their attacking mindset to play some attritional cricket. India's batting line-up unraveled massively on day five at Lord's and lost by 22 runs while chasing 193 despite efforts from Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah.
With significant injuries to their players, India are also expected to make a handful of changes to play at a venue, where they are yet to win a Test.
England, meanwhile, will be hoping to carry the momentum from the hard-fought 22-run victory over India at Lord's to Old Trafford. The hosts have also lost only two out of their last 20 Tests at the venue and will be hoping to keep the scoreline 2-1 or go 3-1 up. Ben Stokes and co. have affected one change to their XI, drafting in Liam Dawson for the injured Shoaib Bashir.
India vs England 4th Test squads:
England squad: Ben Stokes (capt), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes.
India squad: Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (VC & WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Anshul Kamboj.
