IND vs ENG 2025: Jasprit Bumrah to play in Manchester Test, Siraj confirms

In a massive boost to Team India’s chances of making a comeback in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, ace seamer Mohammed Siraj confirmed that premier quick Jasprit Bumrah will spearhead the pace attack in the fourth Test at Old Trafford in Manchester starting Wednesday (Jul 23). Uncertainty loomed over Bumrah’s selection for the fourth Test after he featured in two of the three matches he was supposed to play on this UK tour, with Siraj confirming Bumrah's availability for the upcoming game in the pre-match presser. His selection, however, also came on the back of the visiting camp running out of options in first-team quicks due to injuries to several pacers, including Arshdeep Singh and Akash Deep.

Team India trails by 1-2 in this marquee five-match series. After losing the series opener at Headingley in Leeds, India won the next match at Edgbaston – their first Test win at the venue but lost the next one at Lord’s in a close tie.

If losing that one didn’t hurt enough, given India could chase 192 with four sessions remaining, injuries to the pace twins, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Rishabh Pant, added salt to the wounds.

While Arshdeep is ruled out of the Manchester Test with an injured bowling hand, Akash Deep is suffering from a right groin injury, the signs of which he showed during the Lord’s Test. Pant, who injured his finger while keeping in England’s first innings in London, will play as a batter in Manchester, with his fellow gloveman Dhruv Jurel likely to play as the keeper-batter. All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy is the latest addition to the list, getting ruled out of the remaining two matches with a knee injury.

India has added uncapped Haryana seamer Anshul Kamboj to the squad as a cover for Arshdeep.

Bumrah in England

Bumrah loves playing in England. On his third away Test tour to the UK, Bumrah has picked up 12 wickets in two contested matches thus far, including bagging two five-wicket hauls in each game (at Leeds and Lord’s).

While he also surpassed Wasim Akram on the list of Asian quicks for the most wickets in SENA countries, his 14 five-fors in Tests keep him ahead of all Indian pacers on this list. Even though India lost both matches he featured in and won the one where he was on the bench, Bumrah's availability for the fourth Test in Manchester will boost Team India’s morale.

However, with Siraj and Bumrah being the sure starters, it remains to be seen who plays as the first-change quick.

India squad for fourth Test -

Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Kuldeep Yadav and Anshul Kamboj