India and England locked horns today in the fourth Test of the five-match series at Old Trafford in Manchester. The visitors lost their 14th toss in a row in international cricket, even as England decided to bowl with overcast conditions and grass on the surface. England skipper Ben Stokes had no hesitation in making the decision.
However, the home team might have defied history in Manchester by bowling first as no team has won a Test after opting to bowl first in the 141-year history at the venue. Michael Atherton, while doing the pitch report, had also mentioned the same startling fact, while also stating that the conditions warrant the need to bowl first for both teams.
Jaiswal and Rahul played out the first session well
Going by the startling fact mentioned above, England seemed to have lost a chance to pick up early wickets. The red cherry was swinging a lot in the first hour but the Indian openers - KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal - batted really well and showed superb patience to keep the bowlers at bay.
Jofra Archer and Chris Woakes opened the bowling attack for the hosts and they asked a lot of questions of the Indian batters. There were quite a few plays and misses as well but none of the deliveries managed to take the edge of the bat. It has been a good start for India as the ball has not been moving much in the second hour and after playing out a wicketless session, the visitors will be keen to cash in on a good start.
At the same time, the pressure will be on England to pick wickets as they decided to bowl first.
4 County Championship matches have ended in draw in Manchester this season
Moreover, the pitches at Old Trafford have turned flat this year with four County Championship matches ending in a draw this season. With a tough period being played out, the first innings score will be massive for India in this Test.
Playing XIs
India - Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Anshul Kamboj
England - Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Liam Dawson, Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer
