England selected their starting XI for the fourth Test against India on Monday (July 21). The game will start at Manchester’s Old Trafford on Wednesday, July 23. As the penultimate Test begins, the hosts are ahead 2-1 in the five-match series.
The team led by Ben Stokes made a good start to the series by registering a win at the Headingley, after overcoming a very high target of 371 in the last innings. At Edgbaston, team India performed a powerful comeback with a powerful 336-run victory to tie it up. Later England was able to win the game by 22-runs at the Lord and went ahead in the series of Anderson-Tendulkar trophy.
England made one forced change to their playing XI for the upcoming Test, replacing Shoaib Bashir with Liam Dawson. Bashir was later ruled out of the series after suffering an injury during the previous Test match at Lord’s. Liam Dawson, a left-arm orthodox spinner, was then brought into the team by the English selectors to cover for the off-spinner.
England’s playing XI for the 4th Test: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Liam Dawson, Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer
Harry Brook Praises Liam Dawson as ‘Very Skillful’ After His Inclusion in England’s XI for 4th Test vs India
England batsman Harry Brook spoke candidly about Liam Dawson’s inclusion in the starting lineup during a news conference held prior to the fourth Test. He believed that Liam’s extensive domestic expertise would help the team’s cause in Manchester. According to Brook (via Cricbuzz):
“He’s a wily old fox, very experienced. He’s a very skillful cricketer as well. He’s played everywhere, played against everyone. Hopefully he can land it in the foot-holes and create a bit of spice out of there and some opportunities to take wickets.”
Harry Brook
In addition, Harry Brook praised Dawson’s batting abilities and said that his presence would help their bottom order in the next Test.
“He’s obviously a very good batter as well, he’s got nearly 20 First-Class hundreds. That’s adding to our strength in batting. He’s a good bloke, he’s willing to always fight for the team. He’s very competitive and it’s good to have him here.”
Harry Brook
It will be Dawson’s first Test debut in eight years, having previously played in 2017. The 35-year-old has amassed 84 runs and taken seven wickets in three Test matches thus far.
