India reaches 78-0 on opening day of 4th test after England decides to bowl

By Canadian Press on July 23, 2025.

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — India reached 78-0 at lunch on the opening day of the fourth test against England at Old Trafford.

On an overcast day in Manchester, India looked comfortable in the morning session and faced 26 overs. KL Rahul is 40 not out and Yashasvi Jaiswal has 36 runs, including a six.

The home team won the toss Wednesday and made India bat first. It was the 14th time in a row India had lost the toss in an international match.

“There’s pretty decent overhead conditions for bowling so that’s what we’re going to do,” England captain Ben Stokes said.

India was happy to bat first.

“The surface looks good, so a good toss to lose … Nice and hard,” India captain Shubman Gill said. “I think we have been playing well in the last few matches. The small moments we have lost but apart from that, a number of sessions we have won more than them which is a positive for us.”

England won a heated third test at Lord’s by 22 runs to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.

Gill said Tuesday that England had acted against the “spirit of the game” by delaying play at Lord’s. Gill was not happy about England batsmen Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett being late to the crease on the third day of the test.

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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

James Robson, The Associated Press