Cricket: India vs England fourth Test recap, including records broken and player injuries
Records continue to tumble in Manchester Test
England will head into the final Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in the driver’s seat, 2-1 up in the series after match four petered out to a draw on Sunday. India must win the final game at The Oval to salvage a share of the spoils from the series, and you can get our experts’ thoughts on the clash via our cricket predictions.
On Day four of the last match, many Three Lions’ fans would have thought their team would be 3-1 up coming into the final Test after centurions Joe Root and skipper Ben Stokes headlined an excellent innings, which included five batsmen scoring 50+ runs.
Root’s knock took him joint-fourth with Kumar Sangakkara for the most Test centuries on 38, while it was also his 12th ton against India, which is the most any batter has scored against the Men in Blue. He is also the favourite to finish as the top scorer in this series at the latest betting odds.
The 34-year-old Englishman also moved up to second place in the all-time leading run-scorer in Test cricket list, surpassing Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid with his 150-run stand in Manchester. He now trails only the legendary Sachin Tendulkar.
England’s 669-run tally was the second highest they’ve scored against India, and they are the first team to post 600+ runs against the Men in Blue since 2014!
For India, Shubman Gill continued the incredible start to his captaincy reign, recording his fourth ton of the series, equalling Sunil Gavaskar and Virat Kohli’s records for the most centuries in a single series. He is now the first Asian batter to score 650+ runs in a Test series in England (currently 722).
The one unwanted record of the match went to Jasprit Bumrah, who suffered the most expensive spell of his Test career, conceding 112 for two wickets. However, he did draw level with Ishant Sharma as the joint-highest wicket-taker for India in England.
Major personnel calls to be made for series finale
Ahead of the final Test of the series, which gets underway in London on Thursday, both teams' sets of selectors will need to make crucial calls in terms of personnel - some enforced and others tactical.
Ben Stokes confirmed after the Manchester Test that it would be “very unlikely” he would miss the final match of the series, but the England skipper also mentioned that his side could need “fresh legs” after a gruelling battle.
On Monday, Jamie Overton was recalled to the squad for the final Test, adding depth to the team’s pace attack that features Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse, both of whom have played every match so far, while Jofra Archer has played twice since returning from injury.
As for the visitors, in-form wicket-keeper batsman and newly appointed vice-captain Rishabh Pant has been ruled out of the series finale due to a foot fracture sustained during the team’s first innings at Old Trafford.
There are also questions over Jasprit Bumrah, who was slated to play only three matches in this series and fulfilled that quota last time out. He had a tough outing in match four, and many feel that Akash Deep should be brought in to lead the attack with the new ball.
