Plagued by injuries, India could be forced to deviate from its preferred template when it takes on a reinvigorated England in the fourth Test starting here on Wednesday. They would be hoping to end their winless record at the Old Trafford and draw level in what has been an exciting series so far.
After the first Test in Leeds, India had found a settled line-up by fielding three all-rounders in the playing 11, including Nitish Reddy, who has now been ruled out due to a knee injury.
With Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar being the two spin bowling all-rounders, India had the advantage of batting till number eight, but that may not be the case in Manchester, where the visitors are yet to register a victory in nine attempts, which resulted in four losses and five draws. England are leading 2-1 going into the fourth game of the series.
Shardul Thakur, who played the series-opener, could be the direct replacement for Reddy in the playing 11, but he doesn't provide the same batting quality. If selected, he would have to improve his game with the ball too as Reddy had produced timely wickets in the last Test at Lord's.
Considering the options available, India could also go back to the combination they played at Leeds, where they had only one spinner in Jadeja and there were specialist batsmen till number six with both Karun Nair and Sai Sudharsan in the playing 11. Also in the reckoning are pacers Anshul Kamboj and Prasidh Krishna. Either of them can replace Akash Deep if he is not able to recover fully from his groin injury.
Like Akash Deep, Kamboj can generate plenty of seam movement and he also looked in good shape in the first outdoor training session ahead of the high-stakes contest. He was also a part of India A's shadow tour of England. Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and workhorse Mohammed Siraj are two certainties in the team.
It was the first time in the series that Indian batsmen faltered at Lord's and the Shubman Gill-led side would be looking to make amends. Despite his low scores in the third Test, Gill has aggregated more than 600 runs in the series. From the team’s point of view, he would need to return to his high scoring ways. While Jofra Archer had got the better of Yashasvi Jaiswal twice in his successful return to Test cricket, the young Indian left-hander would be better prepared to deal with Archer’s extra pace this time.
India will also look up to K L Rahul, who has provided a batting masterclass in English conditions at the top of the order. As it appears from the training session 48 hours before the game, Rishabh Pant seems to have fully recovered from his finger injury. If Nair gets another opportunity, he would be looking to convert his starts into a big score. With fourth 50-plus scores on the trot, Ravindra Jadeja has been rock solid in the middle order, but is expected to do more with the ball.
Compared to other venues in the country, India don't play that regularly here with their last outing at Old Trafford coming in 2014. The last hundred from an Indian at this ground came from the bat of Sachin Tendulkar way back in 1990. While India are in a must-win situation, England are in the driver's seat, having taken the lead in the series at Lord’s.
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