Bumrah to play fourth Test; Pant on track to keep as well

With confirmation that Jasprit Bumrah will play the fourth Test against England at Old Trafford, India's team combination following their injury crisis after the Lord's fixture is falling into place.

"So far, we only know that Jassi [Bumrah] bhai will play," Mohammed Siraj said in Manchester on Monday when asked about India's pace attack, which looked likely to be disrupted with injuries to Akash Deep and Arshdeep Singh.

Apart from Bumrah's availability, the other good news for India two days before the Test was that Rishabh Pant, who had suffered a finger injury at Lord's, came through a training session that lasted over two hours. India are still sweating on Akash Deep's groin niggle and will give him time to recover.

With allrounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, who played the second and third Tests and impressed at Lord's as the fourth seamer, now ruled out of the series with injury, specialist batter Sai Sudharsan is likely to return to the XI. Sudharsan had played the first Test at Headingley and made scores of 0 and 30 but was left out for offspinning allrounder Washington Sundar at Edgbaston and Lord's. If Sudharsan returns, India could replace Washington with Shardul Thakur if the conditions warrant a fourth seamer instead of a second spinner.

Akash Deep's fitness remains the big question. He bowled at the training session on Monday, but only into bowling coach Morne Morkel's mitt. The medical staff and decision-makers will monitor him over the next two days to decide if he is fit and can last the duration of a Test match. There could be temptation to rest him if Bumrah plays at Old Trafford but misses the fifth Test at The Oval, which starts three days after the fourth Test ends.

While this will be the third of the three Tests that Bumrah planned to play in this five-match series due to workload management, there is a chance the Manchester weather might reduce the strain on him. As things stand, the forecast is for light showers on the first two days and the fifth day at Old Trafford. If the series is alive at The Oval, don't rule out Bumrah playing a fourth Test.

If Akash isn't fit to play at Old Trafford, the third fast bowler will be one of Prasidh Krishna, who played the first two Tests, or the uncapped Anshul Kamboj, who was brought in as cover. Prasidh's average of 55.16 and economy of 5.33 in the series might suggest a lack of control, but in the first two Tests he was asked by the team to bowl spells of sustained short-pitched bowling, which brought him two wickets at Headingley but went for runs at Edgbaston.

If Kamboj, 24, gets his Test cap, it won't be as desperate a selection as it sounds. He has been on the selectors' radar and is known to extract more seam movement than most, which could make him a like-for-like replacement for Akash Deep. Kamboj has 79 first-class wickets at an average of 22.88 since 2022. He comes with the approval of Chennai Super Kings' MS Dhoni, who complimented his seam movement during this year's IPL.

While the identity of India's third seamer remains uncertain, there was more certainty around Pant, who copped a blow on his left index finger while wicketkeeping during the first innings at Lord's. He didn't keep for the rest of the Test but batted in both innings. India were confident there was no fracture, but they didn't want to risk making it worse.

On Monday, Pant went through wicket-keeping drills and batted comfortably in the nets. The only doubt around Pant was that, unlike at Lord's, he will not be able to get a substitute wicketkeeper at Old Trafford if he aggravates the same injury in-game. For a while, Dhruv Jurel was in contention to keep in the fourth Test, with Pant likely to play as a specialist batter, but his performance at the nets on Monday should settle those doubts.

India are trailing 2-1 in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, after losing the first Test at Headingley and the third at Lord's.

Shubman Gill (capt), 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, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Kuldeep Yadav, Anshul Kamboj.