Handed New Ball, Kamboj Faces Big Test on Debut

Only a few days into his stint with the senior side, Haryana pacer Anshul Kamboj was given a big responsibility to open the bowling with Jasprit Bumrah in the fourth Test here at the Old Trafford Ground on Thursday afternoon.

- FIROZ MIRZA @MANCHESTER

With the surface still offering some assistance to the bowlers and overcast conditions, the Indian bowlers were expected to make an instant impact. Unfortunately, it turned out the other way round as they erred in their line and lengths to allow England to have a flying start. Bumrah was supposed to be their go-to bowler but for a change he looked off target on most of the occasions. Mohammed Siraj too fed England openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley on their pads helping them get easy runs. Shardul Thakur, who was hardly used in the first match despite picking two wickets in the second innings and was subsequently dropped from the side, looked out of place once again as he turned out to be the most e