Stokes wins the toss again and England chooses to bowl first against India in 4th test

By Canadian Press on July 23, 2025.

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Ben Stokes won his fourth straight toss of the test series against India, and England chose to bowl first at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

India made three changes for the fourth test — Sai Sudharsan (for Karun Nair), Shardul Thakur (Nitish Reddy) and test debutant Anshul Kamboj (Akash Deep).

England had already announced its team with spinner Liam Dawson back in test cricket after eight years. He replaces injured spinner Shoaib Bashir in England’s only change from the heated third test at Lord’s.

India captain Shubman 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, which the host won by 22 runs to take a 2-1 series lead.

England can secure a series victory with a win.

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Lineups:

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

India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Lokesh Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Anshul Kamboj, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.

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

The Associated Press