According to ESPNcricinfo, former England bowler Steve Harmison has given his thoughts on what to expect from the Old Trafford pitch for the fourth Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy between India and England, starting on Wednesday.
India are 1-2 down in the series so this game is crucial. If they lose here they lose the series.
Historically the Manchester pitch was known for pace and bounce. In recent years it’s been slower.
Given the forecast is for rain Harmison hopes for some showers to liven up the pitch and give the fast bowlers something to work with.
If it’s going to rain anywhere it will be Manchester. We could do with some rain to get some life into the pitch, Harmison said on ESPNcricinfo Match Day.
He said first-class pitches in Manchester haven’t been the same as they were 10 or 15 years ago. Back then they offered bounce, pace and reverse swing but now they are slow and flat.
Harmison looked at the team lineups for both sides. He thinks the pitch will be similar to the Edgbaston one (where the second Test was played) which didn’t offer much pace or bounce. In that game India scored 587 in the first innings and declared on 427/6 in the second. India got more seam movement on the last day and won by 336 runs.
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If you can play two spinners Manchester might be the place to do it. England won’t because they have Liam Dawson. I expect the pitch to be a lot like the Edgbaston one, he said.
He thinks the Lord’s pitch will break up as the game goes on and offer some turn but not much pace or bounce so it could be a low scoring game.
IND vs BAN 4th Test Match Probably Playing 11:
India: 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: Ben Stokes (C), 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
