India captain Shubman Gill lost the toss for the fourth consecutive time in the ongoing tour as England skipper Ben Stokes opted to bowl in the penultimate Test at Old Trafford in Manchester. In fact, India have now lost 14 tosses on the trot in men's international criket. The last time India won a toss in any format was in January in a T20I match against England in Rajkot. India went on to win the game by 26 runs and the series by a margin of 4-1.
India, trailing by 1-2, needs to conjure a win to keep the series alive. A defeat would mark the beginning of captain Shubman Gill's era. On the other hand, England, who stood triumphant with a 22-run victory at Lord's, will look to take confidence from their past exploits and take an unassailable lead in the series.
Injuries have plagued the Indian camp, with Arshdeep Singh and Akash Deep ruled out of the fourth Test due to injuries. Young all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has been ruled out of the remainder of he series, owing to a left knee injury.
Anshul Kamboj, a 24-year-old seamer from Haryana, was sent to Manchester to bolster India's pace bowling options, and he has been preferred to fill the vacant spot left by Akash ahead of Prasidh Krishna. He received his maiden cap from former cricketer Deep Dasgupta.
Along with this, Shardul Thakur has come in to replace the injured Nitish, while Karun Nair has run out of chances, and Sai Sudharsan has returned to the squad for the first time since the series opener in Leeds.
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
India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Anshul Kamboj
(With ANI Inputs)