by India has to make a decisive call to Star Pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah’s fitness for the fourth test against England in Old Trafford.
England can win the series with a win in Manchester, but they have to solve first -class questions while Ben Stokes and Ravindra Jadeja will try to repeat their third testing.
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AFP Sport deals with three topics before the first day of the test on Wednesday:
India weighs Bumrah’s decision
India in the five-game series with 2-1 after their painful 22-run loss at Lords, India cannot afford another defeat if they want to win a test trip to England for the first time since 2007.
This dangerous position has increased the pressure to make the right decision on the fitness of Bumrah.
At the beginning of the series, India’s coach Gautam Gambhir made it clear that Bumrah would only be available for three games due to a gnawing back injury.
The 31 -year -old Bumrah played in the first and third tests against England. India lost both games and missed the second game that the tourists won.
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If India would use the world’s leading test bowler in Manchester, he would probably exclude it from a potential series decision in the fifth test.
“We know that we got it for one of the last two tests. It is quite obvious that the series is now at stake in Manchester, so it will tend to play it,” said Gambhir’s assistant Ryan Ten.
The need to play Bumrah in Old Trafford was reinforced by injuries to India Allround Nitish Kumar Reddy and Seamer Arshdeep Singh.
England’s brittle top order
England may be at a touching distance of the series profit, but questions about their fragile top order remain unsolved.
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The polarizing opener Zak Crawley was only able to raise points of 18 and 22 at Lord’s.
Ollie Pope, who filled the three place in number three, reached 44 in the first Innings, but in the second, while Crawley’s opening partner Ben Duckett was released for 23 and 12.
England has to decide whether to keep faith with Crawley, whose international career was filled with ups and downs.
Crawley’s skills showed 267 points against Pakistan and 189 against Australia, but the frustrating habit of the 27-year-old to give up to his Wicket cheap, led to a change at the top of the line-up.
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However, England has secured Crawley and Ducket under control, and captain Stokes said: “They complement each other.
“One is a giant, you are not. It is very difficult for Bowler to work.”
Jadeja against Stokes
After England’s Stokes has increased at Lord’s occasion and Jadeja provided almost a match winner for India, the all-rounders will bear high expectations in Manchester.
Stokes was listed in the third test triumph in England with a good example. He achieved 77 runs in two innings, took five gates and created an important run from Rishabh Pant.
Significantly, Stokes was able to push his body through 44 overs, including magic of 9.2 and 10 over on the dramatic last day.
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Now 34, that was the most that he plagued in more than six years after his plague of injuries.
“It was an incredible effort to do that, but that’s how it is built, I think. He is only desperate to be the man and let things happen,” said English bat.
The age was also not a barrier for the 36-year-old Jadeja because he held India in the Lord’s test until the last moments.
Now, an older statesman of the team, after the test resolutions of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, Jadeja’s gravel 61 have not triggered the tourists within a whisker of their 193-year-old goal.
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He also achieved 72 in the first innings and did 89 and 69 in the second test in Edgbaston.
“I always had the feeling that he can exert pressure. With such great experience, he usually has something that the team needs under difficult conditions. Really, really valuable for the team,” said India’s bread coach Sitansshu Kotak.
SMG/NF
