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England bowl in fourth Test as India pick Bumrah / Photo: Ben STANSALL - AFP/File
England bowl in fourth Test as India pick Bumrah
England won the toss and elected to bowl in the fourth Test against India at Old Trafford on Wednesday as the tourists picked paceman Jasprit Bumrah for a match they must win.
England captain Ben Stokes, whose side are 2-1 up in the five-Test series, chose to field on an overcast morning, ignoring the lessons of history.
No team winning the toss and bowling first has ever won a Test at the Manchester ground.
Before the series started it was announced that Bumrah, the world's top-ranked Test bowler, would only play in three of the five games to protect his fitness following a back injury.
But with India 2-1 down following a dramatic 22-run defeat at Lord's, a game in which fast bowler Bumrah played, he was included in the tourists' team at Old Trafford.
India made three changes, with batsman Sai Sudharsan replacing Karun Nair, and Shardul Thakur and debutant Anshul Kamboj coming in for injured pacemen Nitish Kumar Reddy and Akash Deep.
Rishabh Pant was passed fit to keep wicket after suffering a finger injury.
England had already named their side, making just one change as they recalled Liam Dawson for the left-arm spinner's first Test in eight years after Shoaib Bashir suffered a series-ending finger injury at Lord's.
"There's pretty decent overhead conditions for bowling so that's what we're going to do," said Stokes.
"I think everyone left everything on the outfield at Lord's on the last day. The effort has been outstanding from both teams. It improves the quality of both sides."
India have yet to win a Test at Old Trafford following four defeats and five draws in nine previous matches.
"I was a bit confused (about what to do). The surface looks good, so a good toss to lose," said India captain Shubman Gill.
"I think we have been playing well in the last few matches. The small moments we have lost but apart from that, a number of sessions we have won more than them which is a positive for us."
Teams
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Jamie Smith (wkt), Liam Dawson, Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (capt), Rishabh Pant (wkt), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Anshul Kamboj, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
Umpires: Ahsan Raza (PAK), Rod Tucker (AUS)
TV Umpire: Kumar Dharmasena (SRI)
Match Referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)
F.A.Wagner--BlnAP
