ENG vs IND 2025: Why are Akash Deep and Nitish Kumar Reddy not playing fourth Test?

The fourth Test between England and India during the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025 is already underway at the Old Trafford in Manchester, and there have been a lot of changes in the Indian line-up ahead of the penultimate game of the series. Notably, the visitors are without the services of star all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy and ace pacer Akash Deep. Both the players are missing this game owing to their respective injuries.

Toss Update

The coin flip at the Old Trafford went in favour of England who won the toss opted to take the field first. The hosts had already announced their playing combination, where Shoaib Bashir was the only missing name from the previous encounter at Lord’s. Notably, Bashir, who took the last wicket of the dramatic third Test, has been ruled out of the series owing to an injury to his finger. Liam Dawson has replaced the youngster and made his directly into the Playing XI.

India enter with changes

India have handed a debut to Anshul Kamboj, whereas Shardul Thakur has also been called back to the Playing XI, after starting in the first game at Headingley. Kamboj was speed-dialled into the squad following multiple injuries to Nitish Kumar Reddy, Akash Deep, and Arshdeep Singh. The Haryana-born has been picked to take the field ahead of Prasidh Krishna.

What did the captains say?

England captain Ben Stokes

We’re going to have a bowl. Decent overhead conditions for bowling. We’ve had a good break in between. Good chance for everyone to head back home and get the batteries recharged. Everyone left everything out on the field at Lord’s. We’ve had three games go down to the final session, which says a lot about the quality of the teams. Typical Manchester wicket. Quite firm. Some grass. Dawson back in the team – long time since the last Test but he’s gone well over the years.

India captain Shubman Gill

I was actually confused. Good toss to lose. The way we’ve played in the last three Tests has been outstanding. Some crunch moments we’ve lost, but we’ve won more sessions than them. You need a bit of a break. All three Tests were intense. Looks like a good surface. There’s some forecast around in the four-five days. Three changes for us – Sai Sudharsan comes in place of Karun Nair, Akash Deep and Nitish Kumar Reddy have been ruled out, so Shardul Thakur comes back and Anshul Kamboj makes his debut.