The Manchester Test is slated to get underway on July 23.
Team India are set to make three changes to their playing XI for the fourth Test against England, slated to get underway on Wednesday (July 22) at Old Trafford in Manchester.
The visitors have been dealt with big injury blows with all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy being ruled out of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, while left-arm quick Arshdeep Sigh has been ruled out of the penultimate Test.
Moreover, seamer Akash Deep, who picked up 10 wickets in India's 336-run victory over England at Edgbaston, will not feature in the match.
While Haryana pacer Anshul Kamboj is the front-runner to replace Akash in the line-up, Shardul Thakur is likely to be drafted into the team as a replacement for Nitish. One unforced change is also expected to take place.
According to a report published in The India Express, Sai Sudharsan could make a return after being sidelined from the XI following low scores on Test debut at Leeds.
In the series opener, Sudharsan played at No. 3 spot while Karun Nair came out to bat lower in the order. In the second and the third Tests, Nair was preferred over Sudharsan for the one-down position.
Though India's nets session on Tuesday was marred by rain, Sudharsan's inclusion looked quite likely because of the time he still managed to spend in the middle. The young left-hander even did shadow practice when the pitch was covered, and observed the greenish-brown areas closely.
Nair, on the other hand, has displayed class at the crease but hasn’t been able to convert his starts into meaningful scores. His scores in the first three games of the series read 0, 20, 31, 26, 40 and 14.
In the pre-match presser on Tuesday, Shubman Gill was asked about the possibility of dropping Nair from the Manchester Test and the Indian captain replied by saying, "We think Karun is batting well. The first match he didn't really play at his number (batted at 6). It's difficult when a player is making a comeback in a series like this, you know. But I don't think there's been any issue with his batting. Sometimes it's also about getting that click, you know. Once you're able to make your 50, then you're able to get back into your zone and get some big runs. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened for him so far."
In such a scenario, it becomes difficult to guess which player Sai Sudharsan would replace, if the southpaw is given a chance in the fourth Test. But, considering head coach Gautam Gambhir's fondness for all-rounders, Sudharsan isn't likely to come in place of Nitish.
Hence, Karun might just miss out on a spot in the playing XI. Another option is to add a batter by dropping Washington Sundar but it seems unlikely as the spin all-rounder performed brilliantly at Lord’s.
After losing the Lord’s Test by a narrow margin of 22 runs, India are now 1-2 behind in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. They can’t afford to lose any more matches or the series will be gone.