The England v India 2025 series is already proving one for the ages, with all to play for ahead of the 4th Test in Manchester. Andy Schooler previews the Old Trafford clash, which starts on Wednesday.
England v India 2025: Exclusive 4th Test Preview
Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester, England
Date/Time: Wednesday July 23, 1100 BST (5 days)
TV: Sky Sports Cricket
It’s been a great series so far but if you were an India player or fan, you’d be feeling a little hard done by. They head to Old Trafford this week trailing 2-1 with two to play but if you’d have scored things sessions by session, you’d have to put India in front. Of course, Test cricket doesn’t work that way and bad sessions can prove very costly and that’s been the case in this series. India could be home and hosed at 3-0 but instead it’s must-win for them now. In terms of this match, you have to look at the Indians’ price of 3.15 and feel there’s a touch of value there.
They weren’t far away from winning at Lord’s last time out, finishing 23 runs shy of their target and being made to regret some suspect shot choices in what was a very achievable chase. They were without their best bowler, Jasprit Bumrah, in that contest and he’s expected to return to the XI here. Akash Deep is, however, a major doubt, while all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy will need to be replaced having been ruled out of the rest of the series with a knee injury. Sai Sudharsan is expected to come in but he’s not a like-for-like replacement and other rejigs maybe required.
England v India: Early Wickets
As for England, they make one change, bringing in left-arm spinner Liam Dawson to replace the injured Shoaib Bashir. It will be his first Test in eight years. Bumrah will be relishing getting onto the Old Trafford pitch, one which tends to offer something for all-comers. The early look at the wicket showed a green surface and it’s also been damp in recent days to soften things up following a hot summer so far.
In the last five Tests at this ground, the top score from a team batting first has been 369 so the bowlers may well get their chance to take centre stage. If that’s the case, India’s attack has looked the more potent so far, albeit you could argue that the England seamers have not had the conditions they’d like.
England v India: Wonderful Woakes
Chris Woakes would likely agree with that, although he did make a bit more of an impact at Lord’s where he gave us a winner by being England’s top bowler in the first innings. I’m going to take the same approach here because, as was the case at Lord’s, Woakes has an excellent track record on this ground. His seven Old Trafford Tests have resulted in 35 wickets at an average of 17.37. For some context, his overall Test average stands at 29.29.
England v India: Ravi-ng About Jadeja
In more friendly bowling conditions, Woakes may well be able to extract the movement to trouble the tourists’ batters. For India, it’s been hard not to be impressed by Ravi Jadeja’s efforts with the bat – it felt wrong that he was on the losing side at Lord’s after a terrific effort in the chase.
He made his fourth half-century of the series in that innings and now sits fifth in the series run chart. The problem is he’s the only one in the top 10 not to make a century and that lack of a truly big score makes backing him in the India top bat market at 5.5 less appealing. Sadly, we don’t have a runs line of a ‘score 50’ market for Jadeja so on this occasion, I’ll leave him be.
England v India 4th Test 2025: Best Bets
Back India to win the 4th Test @ 3.15 with kwiff
Back Woakes Top ENG Bowler @ 3.5 with kwiff
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