Former KKR spinner picks India’s playing 11 for ENG vs IND 2025 4th Test; retains Karun Nair and makes 2 changes

Former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) spinner Brad Hogg made two changes in his playing 11 for India ahead of the fourth Test against England. The game begins on Wednesday, July 23, at Old Trafford, Manchester.

Hogg batted for Karun Nair to retain his spot at number three. He added that India must not tinker with the top four in the batting order. Nair has managed only 131 runs from six innings without a half-century thus far.

With Nitish Kumar Reddy ruled out for the remainder of the series, the former Australian cricketer believes the visitors should bring Shardul Thakur in as a like-for-like replacement.

Akash Deep and Arshdeep Singh are also ruled out of the fourth Test. That said, Hogg feels Anshul Kamboj, who was added to the squad, must play ahead of Prasidh Krishna. Notably, Prasidh was dropped after the first two Tests due to his poor form.

"I don't think Nair should be dropped. You've got to keep him at three. That top four, you've got to keep it the same. I'm only worried about Jaiswal against Archer. Washington Sundar and Jadeja continue to do their job with both bat and ball. If you have Shardul coming in at eight, then you've got that depth. You've got to understand whether Prasidh Krishna is confident coming into this game or not. If he's not in the best spot, that's where you go with Kamboj," he said on his YouTube channel. "We've got Jaiswal, Rahul opening the batting. Nair at three. Gill at four, Pant at five. I think Thakur would be in that eleven. Jadeja at six, Washington at seven and Thakur at eight. Kamboj has the potential to bat. If he can bat at number nine, then you've got Siraj and Bumrah," he added.

Brad Hogg's India playing 11 for fourth Test: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Anshul Kamboj, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah.

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Can India break the Manchester jinx?

India are currently 1-2 down in the five-Test series. The fourth match is a must-win for the visitors to keep their hopes of winning the series alive. Post the heartbreaking 22-run loss at Lord's, they will be keen to draw level at Manchester.

However, their record at the venue in Tests so far has been poor. Out of nine games, they have not managed a single win, losing four with five drawn results. The last time India played a Test in Manchester was in 2014, where they suffered a defeat by an innings and 54 runs.

Notably, they had not won a Test at Edgbaston before the start of this series. However, the visitors went on to win at the venue by a massive margin of 336 runs. That said, India will be keen to break the Manchester jinx and repeat their performance from Edgbaston.

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Edited by Rishab Vm