On the first day of the fourth Test match against England, Chris Woakes delivered a shattering delivery that caused Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal’s bat handle joint to break. With the weather being generally cloudy in the first hour of play and continuing to be so for much of the Test, the hosts won the toss and chose to field first.
Woakes bowled a decent length delivery in the fifth ball of the over during the ninth over. When Jaiswal guarded the ball, the handle shattered and the bat’s joint was smashed by the right-arm pacer’s ball that nipped back in with some extra bounce. Karun Nair emerged with the remaining bats after the left-handed hitter indicated for a new one.
Due to the unpredictable bounce of the deliveries, which neither opener could predict, Jaiswal had to be cautious when facing the new ball.
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Regarding the game, the visitors were put to the test throughout the first hour of play as they made every effort to avoid nicking anything with their bat. During the first overs, both batters were cautious and primarily scored runs off of wayward deliveries. Jaiswal will try to recover in Manchester after entering the competition fresh off of two defeats at Lord’s.
On the opening day of the fourth Test at lunch, they batted first and scored 78 runs in 26 overs while maintaining a composed crease and avoiding any chances to score runs. KL Rahul handled the difficult balls with ease and appeared more confident. Although it wasn’t always easy to bat, the Old Trafford pitch provided nice seam movement and a little extra bounce.
Three adjustments for Indians in a game of life or death
Due to several players suffering injuries that forced them to miss the match, the visitors had to make significant changes to their starting lineup for the fourth Test. Anshul Kamboj, a cricketer from Karnal, took Akash Deep’s place and earned his first cap for the Baggy Blues. Additionally, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Karun Nair were replaced by Shardul Thakur and Sai Sudharsan, respectively.
In contrast, England added Liam Dawson to their Test lineup after an absence of eight years. Shoaib Bashir, who suffered a hand injury during the Lord’s Test, is replaced in the starting lineup by the left-arm spinner.
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