For the fourth Test of the five-match series, at Old Trafford, Manchester, India replaced the injured Akash Deep with debutant Anshul Kamboj.
For the fourth Test match, India made three changes to the playing XI that lost the Lord’s Test. At No.3, they drafted in Sai Sudharsan for Karun Nair, while they replaced the injured Nitish Kumar Reddy with Shardul Thakur.
However, Akash’s injury forced them to make another replacement, the third specialist fast bowler to go with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. With the uncapped Arshdeep Singh also ruled out, they had to choose between Prasidh Krishna and Kamboj. They opted for the latter, the uncapped fast bowler from Haryana who was drafted into the squad once Arshdeep and Nitish were ruled out and there was uncertainty around Akash’s unavailability.
Also read: Who is Anshul Kamboj, India’s newest Test debutant?
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4th Test, England vs India
Why India chose Kamboj over Krishna?
Prasidh had taken 3-42 and 3-65 in the New Year’s Test against Australia. In his next Test, in a defeat at Headingley, he went or 3-128 and 2-92, and was retained at Edgbaston when Bumrah sat out. There, he went for runs as he tried to pepper Jamie Smith with bouncers on a ground with short square boundaries, and made way for Bumrah at Lord’s.
India might have recalled Prasidh at Old Trafford. Instead, they rewarded Kamboj for an excellent domestic season, where his 50 wickets came at a mere 14.86 apiece. If the 8-69 for India C against India B, the fifth-best figures in Duleep Trophy history, were not enough, he went on to become the third bowler to take all 10 wickets in a Ranji Trophy innings, for Haryana against Kerala.
Kamboj’s performance helped him earn a spot in the India A squad that toured England ahead of the Test series. In two unofficial “Tests” against the England Lions, he claimed five wickets for at 26.20. In the second of these games, he picked up 2-56 and 2-6 – and made 51 not out, his maiden first-class fifty. That, along with the lower-order batting promise that Kamboj provides over Krishna, meant a Test debut was always in the making.
