England announce playing 11 for ENG vs IND 4th Test in Manchester

Liam Dawson will return to Test cricket after eight years as England made only one change for their playing eleven against India at Old Trafford in Manchester. The left-arm spinner replaced Shoaib Bashir, who has been ruled out of the series with a broken finger injury that he picked up during the first innings of the third Lord’s Test. Dawson has enjoyed 371 first-class wickets to his name, including 124 at 25.64 for Hampshire since January 2023.

Last year, he smashed 956 runs at an average of nearly 60 besides picking up 54 wickets in the red-ball format. He has thumped five FC centuries in the last five seasons, including three apiece in 2023 and 2024. At the start of the summer, he took 4/20 against the West Indies in his comeback game, under Harry Brook’s captaincy. Lord's Test will be an acid for him to get the Ashes tickets. 

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He's very experienced and a very skilful cricketer. He's played everywhere, played against everyone, so hopefully he can have an amazing performance this week. As we've seen over the Test series, the foot holes have been for the left-handed batters outside off, so hopefully he can land it in the foot holes and create a bit of spice and some opportunities to take wickets.’ Brook expressed in the press conference.

Liam Dawson returns as England lock their playing XI for ENG vs IND 4th Manchester Test

One change means the home side has denied Gus Atkinson for this fixture, as the Surrey bowler had been recovering from the hamstring injury that he picked against Zimbabwe in May. Chris Waokes, the veteran, has recovered well after going through 39 overs during the Lord’s Test match. He has struggled so far in this series with seven wickets at 56.42 and 60 runs with the bat.

The eyes will remain on Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes. The former went through a memorable game at Lord’s, but how much has been recovered since then will be the question. The England captain, on the other hand, bowled two 10-over spells in the last two days and looked drained by the end of the last game. His fitness will also be under the scanner.

England’s playing XI for ENG vs IND 4th Test in Manchester

Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (wicket-keeper), Liam Dawson, Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer