Where does the series go from here? England are 2-1 up, but India aren’t settling on staying behind. The Lord’s Test could have gone either way, but the fact of the matter is it landed in England’s kitty. Manchester can either see the hosts ending the series in their favour by going 3-1, or the visitors resisting to continue nurturing the excitement that has carried the series so far.
Five-Test series usually develop their own pop culture, which is an externality to the main drama. That culture gets wilder when both teams are toe-to-toe with each other. From on-field kerfuffles and sledging, frustrated moans over docked points, even more, and more serious, sledging, conspiracies over the changed balls, more sledging, delayed (or allegedly delayed) entries that trigger yet another round of sledging, to trying to guess which game Bumrah will or won’t play, overly optimistic press conferences, and the classic shoulder bumps.
Similar to that, injuries in a series this long are also a must. India have seen their share of struggles with them, with Akash Deep and Nitish Kumar Reddy sidelined, and Rishabh Pant returning from the edge of the precipice. Shoaib Bashir is England’s sacrifice to keep up this tradition. But, as is the notion among both teams, all of this has made the series more riveting. Nasty but riveting.
Team Overview:
England have recalled Liam Dawson after 8 years of absence from the format to replace the injured and consequently ruled-out Bashir. While they have stuck with their top three and are likely to do so for the series with not many options available, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, and Ollie Pope haven’t seen their bat do anything impressive since the first Test match. Crawley and Pope more so, with the former not even crossing 30 since his 65-run knock in the second innings of the opening Test, and the latter following his century up with three single-figure scores, including a duck.
Ben Stokes bowled more overs (44) in the Lord’s Test than he has since 2019, and he managed five wickets, which took his tally to 11 across the series. At a time when England are struggling to find the right choice for their pace attack, Stokes’ return to bowling full time is a huge reprieve. So is the hope that Brydon Carse and Chris Woakes will continue bowling the way they did at Lord’s.
Mohammad Siraj confirmed that Bumrah will play in Manchester, which will be his last of the series. With Deep and Reddy both out, India will need to think about who-and even what kind of substitute-they need. They can either get a batter like B Sai Sudharsan to bolster the batting while hoping the remaining bowlers can take care of the job with the ball, or they can get one of Prasidh Krishna or uncapped right-armer Anshul Kamboj. Pant’s potential inclusion is a relief for India, who relied upon him for a big chunk of their scores in the last Test.
Head-to-Head Matches:
India and England have played a staggering 139 matches between them. Of these, 50 games ended in a draw. The remaining 53 games were won by England, and 36 by India.
Weather and Pitch Report:
Both sides are likely to field a pace-heavy attack, given Old Trafford’s love for pacers. The opening day is forecasted to be wet; however, finer weather is expected for the next few days.
Prediction:
Given the alternating pattern of wins this series, it’s India’s turn to triumph at Old Trafford. But England, like their unusual ways of playing the game, might force that trend to digress.
Where to Watch:
India: Sony Sports, JioHotstar
UK: Sky Sports and Sky Go/Now
Pakistan: Tapmad
South Africa: SuperSport Cricket, SuperSport Grandstand, DSTV app
US and Canada: Willow TV
