Manchester: Both teams had optional practice sessions but it rained relentlessly here on Tuesday morning. At the indoor nets, Harry Brook had loud music on and batted like a teenager enjoying a day out. With the series scoreline reading 2-1 in England’s favour, Brook’s enthusiasm was understandable.India captain Shubman Gill came in the afternoon, did a few running drills with Sai Sudharsan and had some intense discussions. KL Rahul and Karun Nair decided to have nets in the indoor facilities to work on a few specific technical aspects. It was apparent that Gill and his young team are gearing up for a stern examination of their character in the fourth Test starting here on Wednesday.Over the last month, Gill appears to have got used to taking questions for his team. He retained his composure while addressing the media but appeared flustered with the spate of injuries that have hit the side and led to an unsettled bowling attack. He was forthright in announcing that Akash Deep isn’t available due to a groin injury.“It’s never easy when there are injuries going around in the squad. It’s not ideal when you know you have a different combination after every match,” Gill said.Gill’s situation is starkly different to that of England counterpart Ben Stokes. Stokes is so comfortable with his combination that he ignored pacer Gus Atkinson and only made a like-for-like swap, with left-arm spinner Liam Dawson coming in for the injured off-spinner Shoaib Bashir.Gill confirmed that Anshul Kamboj, who joined the team in Manchester as Arshdeep Singh’s cover, is very close to making his debut. “I’m sure he (Kamboj) is very close to making his debut. We’re going to see tomorrow who’s going to make it to the XI between him and Prasidh,” Gill said.“We have seen him (Kamboj) enough. The kind of skill set that he brings to the table is exactly what we want in this team. He’s there because we believe he can win us the match,” he added.Nitish Kumar Reddy’s injury has hurt the balance of the team. Going by the last two days, it appears that the team is leaning towards going back to having both Karun Nair and Sudharsan in the XI. Gill has been very assertive in backing Nair despite the string of low scores.The lower-order collapse in the first Test at Headingley has become the pet peeve of this team management. Washington Sundar batting at No. 8 gives them more stability down the order.The Old Trafford pitch has been mostly under covers for the last few days. It has been largely overcast for a week and is likely to remain that way for the entire duration of the Test match. Gill, head coach Gautam Gambhir and batting coach Sitanshu Kotak spent a few minutes on the pitch with the curator to get an understanding of the square. Four draws have been played out on this surface during this first-class season.
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Stokes didn’t want to comment since he didn’t have a good view of the pitch. But he hoped it’s a bit different than the ones they have played so far in this series, which according to him were not how he had expected them to be.The call the Indian team management has to make is whether to go in with an extra seamer in Shardul Thakur or retain Washington’s services at No. 8 at any cost. That would mean they may well have to go with three pacers and two spinners if they play both Nair and Sudharsan.Like Stokes, Gill has greater expectations from this pitch. “The pitch didn’t look that damp yesterday. But now, having a look at the weather, I don’t think there is much chance for the pitch to dry out. There will be a little bit more for the bowlers. Usually, this venue has a bit more pace and bounce than the other venues we have seen,” Gill said, adding, “We’ve got enough players to take 20 wickets. That’s been the most challenging part of the series.”It will be interesting to see the strategies Gill adopts, given all his top batters are in form and both Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj are available to bowl in overcast conditions.
