Tag: England

MANCHESTER: Wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant suffered a freakish injury during the fourth India vs England Test here at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

The southpaw injured himself in an attempt to play audacious reverse sweep of paceman Chris Woakes in the 68th over of India’s first innings.

However, he survived England’s review call, but looked utterly uncomfortable and immediately signaled for medical assistance after hurting his foot. As a result, he was forced to retire and was replaced by Ravindra Jadeja.

The 27-year-old batter arrived at the crease after India captain Shubman Gill was dismissed by his counterpart Ben Stokes for 12 on the first day of the fourth Test at Old Trafford.

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With the scoreboard showing India at 140 for three, Rishabh Pant joined Sai Sudharsan to take forward the tourists’ innings. The left-handed batter looked in touch and scored 37 off 48 balls, with the help of two fours and a six.

Consequently, India ended their hard-fought day on 264-4 with Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur unbeaten on 19 runs respectively.

During the morning, Jaiswal and fellow opener KL Rahul defied difficult conditions and testing bowling from Woakes and Jofra Archer to take India to 78-0 at lunch.

But Rahul had added just six more runs to his lunch score of 40 when, trying to force Woakes off the back foot, he edged to Zak Crawley at third slip, leaving India 94-1.

Jaiswal late-cut Carse for four to go to 49 before completing a 96-ball fifty.

Meanwhile, Liam Dawson, who was making his comeback into Test cricket, needed just seven balls to strike, removing Jaiswal, who pushed forward defensively to a good-length delivery and edged to Harry Brook at first slip.

READ: India edge ahead on hard-fought opening day as Pant faces injury concern

MANCHESTER: A potentially major setback occurred in the shape of Rishabh Pant as the gruelling opening day of the fourth India vs England Test ended here at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

Earlier, spinner Liam Dawson marked his first Test in eight years with the key wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal after England captain Ben Stokes went against history by opting to bowl first after winning the toss.

No team winning the toss and bowling first has ever won a Test at Old Trafford.

India, 2-1 down after three Tests, must win in Manchester if they are to keep alive their hopes of winning the five-match series.

But the tourists will have to make history as they have never managed to win in nine previous Tests at Old Trafford.

India got through the first session without losing a wicket, only for three batsmen, including skipper Shubman Gill, to be dismissed before tea.

The recalled Sai Sudharsan dropped on 20, twice hooked fast bowler Jofra Archer for four before Pant launched Brydon Carse for a superb straight six.

But the audacious Pant was hurt when trying to reverse sweep off a yorker-length delivery from paceman Chris Woakes — a shot many batsmen would not even contemplate, let alone attempt.

England appealed for lbw, but a review revealed wicketkeeper Pant had got an inside edge before the ball deflected onto his right foot.

Pant, who had made 37 off 48 balls, took his boot off and, following on-field treatment, eventually limped into a buggy before being driven off the field, with India then 212-3.

Soon afterwards, Sudharsan fell for a well-made 61 when a top-edged swivel pull off a shirt ball from lively paceman Stokes that cramped him for room flew straight to Carse at long leg.

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Even though the floodlights were on, there were still several overs remaining when the umpires took the players off for bad light despite England bowling spin at both ends with Dawson and the part-time off-breaks of Joe Root.

Jaiswal and fellow opener KL Rahul defied difficult conditions and testing bowling from Woakes and Jofra Archer to take India to 78-0 at lunch.

But Rahul had added just six more runs to his lunch score of 40 when, trying to force Woakes off the back foot, he edged to Zak Crawley at third slip, leaving India 94-1.

Jaiswal late-cut Carse for four to go to 49 before completing a 96-ball fifty.

Dawson, recalled after 21-year-old off-spinner Shoaib Bashir suffered a series-ending finger injury during England’s thrilling 22-run win in the third Test at Lord’s, did not bowl before lunch.

But the Hampshire veteran, 35, playing his first Test since 2017, needed just seven balls to strike on Wednesday when Jaiswal pushed forward defensively to a good-length delivery and edged to Harry Brook at first slip.

Gill, who had accused England of contravening “the spirit of cricket” with their time-wasting tactics during an ill-tempered match at Lord’s, was greeted with a chorus of boos from spectators as he walked out to the middle.

Shortly after Sudharsan was dropped by wicketkeeper Jamie Smith off the bowling of Stokes, the England skipper removed Gill for 12 when his opposing skipper played no shot and was judged lbw after a vociferous appeal from the all-rounder.

Gill reviewed, but to no avail, as India now stood at 140-3.

His early exit means he has scored just 34 runs in his past three innings after scoring three hundreds in the first two Tests.

The fifth and final India vs England Test takes place at the Oval, starting on July 31.

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Ben Stokes has again criticised over-rate rules after England were docked two World Test Championship (WTC) points following last week’s win against India.

England won a thrilling encounter at Lord’s by 22 runs to go 2-1 up in the five-match series. But there was widespread criticism of time-wasting from both sides, which led to several delays in play and slow over-rates.

England were ruled to be the main offenders, and the points deduction means they slipped from second to third in the WTC standings for the 2025-2027 cycle.

They were docked a costly 22 points in the previous cycle.

Exasperated England skipper Ben Stokes on Tuesday renewed his call for the International Cricket Council (ICC) to change its rules.

“Over rate isn’t something I worry about, but that’s not saying I purposely slow things down,” he told reporters on the eve of the fourth Test at Old Trafford.

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“I do understand the frustration around it, but I honestly think there needs to be a real hard look at how it’s structured.

“You can’t have the same rules in Asia, where spin is bowling 70 percent of the overs, (as) in New Zealand, Australia, England, where it’s going to be 70, 80 percent of seam bowled.”

Nine teams contest the WTC and each nation plays six other sides, three home and three away, over the course of a two-year period.

Teams are ranked by percentage of points won because they play a different number of matches within those six series.

The top two teams compete in the WTC final, with the next three showpiece matches all scheduled to be held in England.

The most recent final took place last month, when South Africa were crowned champions for the first time after defeating holders Australia at Lord’s.

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Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has thrown his weight behind Indian Test skipper Shubman Gill following his on-field altercation with England’s openers during the third Test at Lord’s.

England edged out India by 22 runs in a gripping contest to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.

But it was Gill’s animated exchange with Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett towards the end of Day 3 that dominated headlines.

With six minutes left in the day and both teams tied at 387 in the first innings, Gill was keen to sneak in two overs.

However, the English openers were in no hurry to face the new ball, sparking a heated argument between the Indian skipper and the opening batters.

Speaking on The ICC Review, Ricky Ponting admitted he was surprised by Gill’s visible aggression.

“That was a little out of character from what I’ve known from Shubman in the past,” Ponting told host Sanjana Ganesan.

“I am sure everyone who was there watching it, and I know you would know him quite well, that’s not what he’s generally like.”

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However, Ponting said the incident reflected a young captain stepping up and setting the tone for how he wants his side to play.

“That’s the captain standing up for his team,” he said.

“That’s a captain really wanting to show that it’s his team now and this is the way that we’re going to play the game, and also, I guess, wanting to give a little bit back.”

Drawing a comparison with India’s former leaders, Ricky Ponting said Gill’s approach seemed more in line with Virat Kohli’s intensity than Rohit Sharma’s calm leadership style.

“I think that’s him starting to put his stamp on his team. And a lot like Virat [Kohli] did, in similar ways,” he further stated.

“Rohit [Sharma] probably was never as outwardly aggressive, I guess, especially to opposition players.

“I know he (Rohit) would quite often get aggressive with his teammates and try to bring the best out of them that way. But I love watching Shubman [Gill] stand up for what he thought was right in the game last week.”

India now trails 2-1 in the series against England as they head into the fourth Test at Old Trafford, Manchester, starting on July 23.

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England ace batter Harry Brook has warned India that his team “don’t always have to be nice” as they prepare to resume hostilities at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

After England battled to a fiery 22-run victory in the third Test at Lord’s, the teams will lock horns again with the series on the line in Manchester.

England on Monday named just one change to that side with Hampshire’s left-arm spinner Liam Dawson making his first Test appearance in eight years at the expense of the injured Shoaib Bashir, while Jofra Archer remains in an unchanged pace attack.

An England win would put them 3-1 up with one game to play, while India must take the last two matches to secure their first Test series triumph on English soil since 2007.

It promises to be another fiercely-fought encounter after India’s fielders clashed with England batsmen Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett in a time-wasting row at Lord’s.

That lit a fire under England when it was their turn to field, with Archer giving a pumped-up send-off to India’s Rishabh Pant.

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As the tension mounted in England’s 22-run win, Brydon Carse and India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja were involved in a mid-pitch collision.

But Harry Brook is adamant Ben Stokes’ side did not go to far with their spikey approach in pursuit of victory.

“I’ve had a lot of compliments. Everybody said it was awesome to watch. It was good fun, I have to admit. It was tiring but it made fielding a lot more enjoyable,” he said on Monday.

“I think it put them under a little bit more pressure. The opportunity that arose for us to not be the nice guys was because of what they did. We just thought ‘we’re not standing for that’.

“We had a conversation and said ‘it’s time to not be those nice guys that we have been before’. You don’t always have to be nice. Who knows, that might have played into our favour. It was good fun.

“We were doing it within the spirit of the game. We weren’t going out there effing and jeffing at them and being nasty people. We were just going about it in the right manner.”

READ: Heartbroken Siraj opens up on India’s narrow loss in Lord’s Test

MANCHESTER: Veteran spinner Liam Dawson has been named in the England playing XI for the fourth Test against India, set to be played here at Old Trafford on Wednesday, 23 July.

Dawson is the only change in England’s playing XI that faced India at Lord’s last week. The left-arm spinner has returned to the fold in Test cricket for the first time in eight years for the Three Lions.

The 35-year-old spinner has replaced Shoaib Bashir, who suffered a broken finger on his left hand during India’s first essay in Lord’s Test last week.

Having made his Test debut against India in 2016, Dawson has so far featured in only three games for England, with his last appearance coming against South Africa in 2017.

However, he has caught the selectors’ eyes with an impressive performance in domestic cricket, despite being 35 years old. He has taken 12 five-wicket hauls, including three ten-wicket hauls, since 2021.

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In Bashir’s absence, Dawson will earn his fourth Test cap, having made his most recent appearance in July 2017 against South Africa. As a left-arm spinner, he has 371 first-class wickets to his name, but has been especially prolific in recent seasons.

Liam Dawson has demonstrated his all-round ability for Hampshire since the start of the 2023 season. He has 124 scalps at an impressive average of 25.64 alongside 956 runs at a mouthwatering average of 59.75.

England are currently 2-1 in the newly renamed Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, while India is in search of a win with the five-match series on the line.

England Playing XI

Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Jamie Smith (wk), Liam Dawson, Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer

READ: Heartbroken Siraj opens up on India’s narrow loss in Lord’s Test

Fast bowler Mohammed Siraj has shared his thoughts after India’s narrow defeat against England in the third Test of the five-match series.

India were just 22 runs away from a memorable victory against England at the home of cricket in the third Test with Siraj and Ravindra Jadeja battling the England bowlers on day five.

However, injured off-spinner Shoaib Bashir shattered Indian dreams of securing a victory as his ball rolled back onto the stumps despite Mohammed Siraj middling the ball.

Now, Mohammed Siraj has shared insights into the dismissal on the eve of the fourth Test with the series on the line for India.

“I had taken the final wicket in 2021 as well. I am a very emotional person; it could have been 2-1. Jaddu bhai fought very hard. But then I said to myself that the series is not over, and I will work on my batting,” he said in the pre-match press conference.

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“We kept working hard on our batting since Australia. The 22-run loss was heartbreaking,” Siraj added.

The heartbroken pacer revealed that he was feeling confident and did not think of getting out.

“To middle the ball and still get bowled, the way we were batting together, I was feeling confident and thought I will not get out today. But it was unlucky and it was heartbreaking because the result could have been entirely different,” he explained.

With the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy on the line for India, the visitors are eager to get a much-needed victory at Old Trafford in Manchester.

Mohammed Siraj mentioned the heated exchanges with England players, noting that they were for diverting the players.

“There are no plans regarding this. When you are bowling, you are in another zone; your focus is on taking wickets, so you don’t know what you say. You want to divert the batter — like when I asked Root, ‘Where is the Bazball?” Mohammed Siraj concluded.

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Team India have been dealt a double blow ahead of the fourth Test against England, as all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has been ruled out of the remainder of the series, while left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh is unavailable for the upcoming match.

The The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed that 22-year-old Reddy, who suffered a knee injury, will return home for further medical evaluation and treatment

The young all-rounder featured in the playing XI for the second and third Tests at Edgbaston and Lord’s.

Meanwhile, Arshdeep sustained a thumb injury while bowling in the nets during a training session in Beckenham. His condition is being monitored by the BCCI medical team.

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The BCCI has drafted pacer Anshul Kamboj, who recently impressed on the India A tour of England, into the senior squad in Manchester as cover.

India are trailing 2-1 in the five-match series after a 22-run defeat at Lord’s last week.

Chasing 193, the visitors were bowled out for 170 despite a gritty half-century from Ravindra Jadeja.

The fourth Test between India and England is set to kick off on July 23 at Old Trafford, Manchester.

India’s updated squad for the fourth Test: Shubman Gill (Captain), Rishabh Pant (Vice-captain), 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.

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SINGAPORE: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Sunday announced that England will host the upcoming editions of the World Test Championship (WTC) final until 2031. 

The WTC decision was taken during the ICC’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Singapore where several key resolutions were taken.

The decision to hand over the hosting rights to England was made in light of the successful hosting of previous editions of the WTC finals. England has previously hosted the inaugural 2021 edition, as well as the 2023 and 2025 editions.

For the unversed, South Africa is the current holder of the ICC WTC title, having defeated the defending champions Australia in the final held at the iconic Lord’s in the previous month.

WTC final venues and winners so far:

1) New Zealand, 2021 at The Rose Bowl, Southampton

2) Australia, 2023 at The Oval, London

3) South Africa, 2025 at Lord’s, London

The ICC has also made a decision regarding Afghanistan’s women’s cricket. To support displaced women cricketers of Afghan descent, the ICC is providing valuable engagement opportunities at various events.

This includes the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025, the T20 World Cup in England next year, and access to high-performance programs and domestic playing opportunities.

The initiative is being advanced through a collaborative effort led by the ICC under the supervision of Deputy Chair Mr Imran Khwaja, in collaboration with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), and Cricket Australia (CA).

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Apart from that, the ICC also announced the global winners of the 2024 ICC Development Awards during its annual AGM meeting.

The initiative, launched in 2002, celebrates the innovation and growth of the sport worldwide. Bhutan, Indonesia, Namibia, Nepal, Scotland, Tanzania, the USA, and Vanuatu are the eight Members receiving top honours.

At the annual meeting, the ICC also welcomed two new Members, with the Timor Leste Cricket Federation and the Zambia Cricket Union being included as Associate Members, bringing the ICC’s total membership to 110.

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Assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate has provided a major update on the inclusion of ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah in the India playing XI for the fourth Test against England, set to commence on 23 July at Old Trafford.

Before the start of the five-match Test series against England, the Indian team management outlined a workload management plan for Jasprit Bumrah, allowing him to feature in only three of the five Test matches.

The precautionary major of including Bumrah in the India Playing XI was taken in light of his back surgery after the Border-Gavaskar series.

Due to ace pacer’s fitness concerns, the Indian team management decided to play him in the opening and third Test against England. The right-arm pacer has been phenomenal for India, taking 12 scalps in four innings in the series so far.

Now, Ten Doeschate has hinted at Jasprit Bumrah’s inclusion in the fourth Test against England at Old Trafford with the series on the line.

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“No, we’ll make that call [on Jasprit Bumrah] in Manchester still,” he said after the squad’s one-off training session in Beckenham.

“We know we have got him for one of the last two Tests. It’s pretty obvious that the series on the line now in Manchester so there will be a leaning towards playing him,” he added.

Ryan Ten Doeschate emphasized the selection call and India’s winning chance in the fourth Test.

“But again, we have got to look at all the factors: how many days of cricket are we going to get up there, what do we feel is our best chance of winning that game, and then how that fits in together with The Oval. And looking at the last two games holistically as part of the series,” the Assistant coach concluded.

Adding to India’s bowling woes ahead of the fourth Test, the visitors suffered an injury scare in the shape of Arshdeep Singh.

The left-arm pacer, who is yet to play in the Test series, sustained a cut on one of his fingers on the bowling hand while intercepting the ball in his follow-through during training.

For the unversed, England are 2-1 in the newly renamed Anderson-Tendulkar trophy after winning a thriller at Lord’s Cricket Ground.

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