India vs England (IND vs ENG) 4th Test Cricket Stadium Pitch Report and Manchester Weather Forecast: The Old Trafford Test is a do-or-die fixture for India in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. With England eking out a win in the thrilling Lord’s Test, India are trailing 1-2 and a defeat in the fourth Test could seal a loss for them in the five-match series.
India have ended up with a slightly worrying list of injuries and knocks over the course of the series. Workload management for Jasprit Bumrah ahs always been a concern. All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, who played crucials roles in the second and third Tests, has been ruled out for the rest of the series. There was a question mark over Rishabh Pant’s ability to keep wickets after he couldn’t do so for much of the third Test due to an injury he sustained early on. Fast bowler Akash Deep has been ruled out as well.
Persistent rain in Manchester
The Indian team arrived in Manchester with the city drenched by persistent showers. It has been raining regularly for the past week or so and there is forecast for light showers for the majority of the five days. There is a high possibility of rain on the opening day of the Test on Wednesday with precipitation at 65% and the temperatures will be between 19 to 14 degrees Celsius. As per the prediction, we can expect rain delays during the match that will start at 11 AM local time.
Probability of rain only increases on Day 2 with precipitation forecast to rise to 85% and temperatures are projected to be between 21 to 12 degrees Celsius. The forecast is much better for the third and fourth days and there is a 40% chance of precipitation on Day 5, which means a few rain interruptions but with space for action.
Pitch report for Old Trafford
Considering the damp weather, there would be moisture to exploit for the fast bowlers on day one. The overcast conditions would also be useful for the pacers. The Old Trafford pitch generally tends to remain dry with former England players like Mike Atherton saying that the wrist-spin of Kuldeep Yadav could come handy. However, the humid conditions could prompt Gautam Gambhir and Shubman Gill to weigh bringing back Shardul Thakur as a pace-bowling all-rounder replacement for Nitish Kumar Reddy.
