Published: Jul 21, 2025, 06:34 PM (IST)
Edited: Jul 21, 2025, 06:34 PM (IST)
As the fourth test between India and England begins on Wednesday, former English pacer Steve Harmison shared a detailed insight on how the Manchester’s Old Trafford pitch is expecting to be exciting and lovely. The situation is do or die for India. with the hosts are leading the series 2-1.
The Manchester has been the home of an killer bouncer, tricky swings and raw pace. But over the past two years, Old Trafford has lost all that swing and speed, slowly turning into a venue known more for slower balls. With there being a threat of rain over the venue, Steve is hoping that it rains a little at the stadium as that would make the pitch better for fast bowlers.
“Old Trafford, if it is going to rain anywhere and it hasn’t rained in England for about three months, if it is going to rain anywhere, it will be Manchester as it always does. We could do with some rain because we could do with some lively surface,” Steve Harmsion said this on ESPNcricinfo.
“The first-class pitches in Manchester in the last 18 months or two years haven’t been like they were 10 or 15 years ago. They were bouncy pitches. They were hard and aggressive with a reverse swing. They are all very similar now. They are very slow, very flat,” he added.
In Birmingham, India piled up a gigantic 587 in the first innings and declared on 427/6. But at Old trafford the pitch might get a little tricky. The chances of pace and bounce are low, as this pith resembles the one at Edgbaston.
“If there is a chance of playing with two spinners, you might play two spinners in Manchester. England won’t because they have Liam Dawson. I think it will be a very similar wicket to what we have had at Edgbaston. At Lord’s, where the wicket will break up as the game goes on, and it will probably turn. But I don’t see a lot of pace in it, I don’t see a lot of bounce on it. I think it possibly could be a low-scoring affair,” Steve explained.
Indian squad for the fourth Test: Shubman Gill (C), 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, Anshul Kamboj.
England squad for the fourth: Ben Stokes (Captain), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes.
