Karun Nair is seriously struggling with his comeback to the Indian cricket team in the current five-Test series against England. The experienced batsman has yet to score 50 or above in all his 6 innings. This is concerning since his batting would influence the proceedings of the series, at least with the two teams preparing to play the fourth Test in Manchester that will kick off on July, 23.
Despite having scores of 0, 20, 31, 26, 40, and 14, Shubman Gill has provided Karun Nair with much-needed support. The Indian captain believes Nair has been batting well, but the fact that he has not yet scored big is his main concern. He has also hinted at the possibility of including the 33-year-old in the Manchester match, hoping that the No. 3 batter can turn things around for himself and the batting lineup.
“We think he is batting well. First match, he didn’t play at his number. No issues with his batting. Once you are able to get to 50 and get in the zone. We are hopeful that he can turn it around,” Gill said at the pre-match press conference on Tuesday.
Akash Deep ruled out of ENG vs IND 2025 series due to injury
In another sad turn of events, India will be missing Akash Deep, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Arshdeep Singh for the fourth match of the five-game series. The pacer has been sidelined due to a groin complaint, which has eliminated his prospects of playing in the Playing XI in Manchester. Gill, on the other hand, is sure that his bowling unit will still be capable of taking 20 wickets from the opposition.
“Never easy when there’s a bit of injuries going around in the squad. Nitish is gonna miss out the series and Akash [Deep] is also unavailable for this next match, and so is Arshdeep. But I think we have got enough good players in the team to be able to firstly get 20 wickets. That’s been the most challenging part of the series. But I think, looking at the weather, it should be a good game.”
Shubman Gill
Anshul Kamboj is expected to get his first international cap on Wednesday as India’s third pacer, behind Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. However, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur, and Kuldeep Yadav cannot be ruled out.
