Ind vs Eng LIVE – 5th Test Manchester LIVE: Virat Kohli’s Indian cricket team is standing on a cusp of history. History to defeat England in their own backyard in a 5 match test series. The final and the series deciding match will begin on Friday with the Indian team having some areas of concerns – Follow India vs England 5th Test LIVE Updates on InsideSport.co
Ind vs Eng LIVE 5th Test: Virat Kohli led India eyes history at Manchester but bothered by 3 areas of concern, check out
Ind vs Eng LIVE – 5th Test Manchester LIVE: Should India play tired Jasprit Bumrah? Jasprit Bumrah will have to squeeze every ounce of energy from his already overworked body if India decides against giving rest to him.
– Bumrah already has bowled 151 overs in the series, way more than any other Indian bowler. He has picked 18 wickets for India – but the big question is will it be wise to pick him in XI?
– In perfect bowling conditions that the Old Trafford provides at times, not playing Bumrah will be a travesty but then a T20 World Cup is there in six weeks’ time which will make any captain ponder over the worst of possibilities, including injuries which might hamper India’s chances.
– Umesh Yadav (6 wickets) and all-rounder Shardul Thakur (3 wickets, 117 runs), after their respective impressive performances in the last game, aren’t going to be benched and Bumrah is someone who will be required big time in the biggest game of the series.
– In case, the team management looks at the bigger picture and decides giving Bumrah an option to cool his heels, then Mohammed Siraj, despite an underwhelming show in the last Test, will get a look-in.
Ind vs Eng LIVE – 5th Test Manchester LIVE: Ajinkya Rahane struggling, time to blood in SuryaKumar Yadav or Hanuma Vihari? Though Ajinkya Rahane will hope to get one final chance to save his international career when India take on England in the fifth and final Test, chasing a historic series win – but will it be a good decision, when players like Vihari & Surya are waiting in the wings?
– Rahane has just scored 109 runs @ average of 15.57 in 4 test matches & 7 innings. Chance after chance is being given to Rahane, but with every passing innings his struggles have increased.
– Six failures in seven innings with confidence shot to pieces is not the Rahane everyone is familiar with.
– In such dismal form it will not be surprising if team management decides to drop the Indian vice-captain.
Ind vs Eng LIVE – 5th Test Manchester LIVE: Is all ok with Rohit Sharma & Cheteshwar Pujara? With Mohammed Shami being declared fit, he is set to walk into the playing XI but skipper Kohli may be little concerned with the fitness of Rohit Sharma & Cheteshwar Pujara.
Both are nursing niggles and yet to clear by the Medical team as per the last reports. Though Pictures of Pujara fielding during the training session would come as a welcome relief for his fans.
Ind vs Eng LIVE – 5th Test Manchester LIVE: Will Ashwin get a look in? The non-inclusion of Ravichandran Ashwin has been non-negotiable for captain Kohli, whose vote of confidence in Ravindra Jadeja’s all-round skills has been partially vindicated if not fully.
But will Shardul’s show with the bat induce Kohli to think differently and use the better spinner in Ravichandran Ashwin and not Jadeja?
Perhaps Ashwin may get a look-in when people least expect him to as Kohli is known to do the unexpected.
Ind vs Eng LIVE – What’s happenging in the England Camp? For England, Root is their first and only hope and he would like to shrug off the Oval disappointment and ensure that he crosses the 600-run mark for the series.
Just like Rohit Sharma, who would like to overcome his knee injury and breach the 500-run mark for the five Tests, which will be a tremendous achievement for someone who was not a natural Test opener.
Root will get support from deputy Jos Buttler, who will be back in the playing XI and may replace Bairstow.
Mark Wood is likely to share the new ball with Chris Woakes as both Anderson and Craig Overton are likely to miss the Test.
Ind vs Eng LIVE – 5th Test Manchester Weather: The weather prediction for the game starting Friday would bring smiles in the Indian camp as there is forecast of rain during the first two days which increases the chance of Virat Kohli becoming the first Indian captain to win an away Test series both in Australia (2018-19) and England (2021).
Teams (from):
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Mayank Agarwal, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul, Wriddhiman Saha, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav, Shardul Thakur.
England: Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Jos Buttler, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Robinson, Sam Curran, Mark Wood, James Anderson, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton.
Match starts at 3.30 pm.
Editors pick
