IND vs ENG, 4th Test Match, Day 3: Team India On Edge As England Dominates
With England in control, Karan Pradhan previews how India’s spinners — and Manchester's skies — could decide the course of Day 3.
Last Updated: 02.41 PM, Jul 25, 2025
Published on the cusp of play, #PreMatchMemo sets the scene before each Test — spotlighting arcs, angles, and all that’s in play before the first ball is bowled.
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INDIA began the day with 264 runs on the board, six wickets in hand and plans of a big score in mind. The team would end the day a mere 133 runs ahead with eight England wickets yet to claim. A few spells here and there notwithstanding, the second day of the Manchester Test unarguably belonged to the home side and its captain in particular. Ben Stokes’ 5/72 became his first five-wicket haul in eight years and it played a massive role in keeping India down to a relatively surmountable 358 in the first innings.
Having said that, 358 runs is nothing to be scoffed at, and with the overcast conditions, moisture in the air and Jasprit Bumrah with the ball, anything was possible. Sadly for fans of the Indian team, that ‘anything’ proved to be a rare (in this series) dose of Bazball. Openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett got down to business immediately and took full advantage of the new ball to go past 50 in the 11th over. The 100-run partnership came up in the 19th. And the 150 mark was breached 10 overs later. England were ticking along at around five runs an over — still a breakneck speed for Test cricket — and India seemed woefully out of ideas.
A piece of textbook left-arm orthodox bowling by Ravindra Jadeja and equally well-executed slip-catching by KL Rahul would, however, account for Crawley soon after. And after Anshul Kamboj claimed his maiden Test wicket in the form of Duckett six runs short of a well-deserved century, India appeared to be clawing its way back into the game. A wicket or two before stumps would’ve ended the day on a more even note. But as it turned out, Ollie Pope and Joe Root would safely negotiate Bumrah, Kamboj and Jadeja to guide England to 225/2.
Earlier in the day, India lost Jadeja early to a peach from Jofra Archer to start off the loss of six wickets for 92 runs. That second number would’ve been a lot smaller had it not been for the courage of the injured Rishabh Pant. Hobbling onto the field at the fall of Shardul Thakur’s wicket after the allrounder had made a handy 41, the Indian wicketkeeper resumed his innings at 37. That he only added 14 runs to his score or that he was part of partnerships that tacked 35 runs onto the team total wasn’t the story.
Braving an inspired England attack that, at times, appeared to be targeting his fractured foot with yorkers, was the real story of the day. At no point during his brief innings on Thursday did Pant look comfortable, however, this was an effort driven by grit and determination if not necessarily technique and footwork. Comparisons with the heroics of Anil Kumble (2002), Ramnaresh Sarwan (2003) and Grame Smith (2009) may seem a bit trite, but in this scenario, they would be apt. It’ll be interesting to see if he turns up to bat in the second innings.
THE DAY AHEAD
There’s no way to sugarcoat this: The visitors face quite an uphill battle. With 220 on the board, only two wickets down and a batting lineup that stretches as far as Chris Woakes at No 9, England hold all the aces at the moment. The hosts will ideally seek to bat all day on Friday and potentially bat their opponents out of the game. Admittedly, it is early days yet but the plan will definitely entail not batting again, and in so doing, forcing India to bat on a possibly crumbling fourth/fifth day pitch.
On their part, Shubman Gill and his team would do well to make the most of the wicket being on the slower side and the ball being 40-odd overs old. And this can be done by using Jadeja and Washington Sundar to draw out the wickets rather than attempting to brute-force them using the quicks. The other benefit to this approach is that they’ll get through overs quickly and the new ball will become available to India sooner in the day.
Then there’s the matter of Stokes. The England captain has appeared rejuvenated, hungry and raring to go every time his team has taken the field. His name at the top of the wicket-takers list this series underlines only a part of the impact he’s had. Stokes’ captaincy has also been critical to the home team’s success in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy so far. He still has a major role to play in this Test and the next, and India will be wary. One thing at a time though, and the first will be to dismiss him cheaply on Friday.
And finally, we have the inglorious uncertainties of the weather. Before the start of the Test, the forecast for the third day was the sunniest of the lot, and this prediction still holds. That means there’s likely to be some sunshine and very little rain. This is yet another reason for the visitors to deploy the spinners as soon as possible and attempt to regain the grip on the Manchester Test they last had in the very first session.
Karan Pradhan is editor-in-chief of Story Mode, a gaming and gaming-adjacent magazine. Follow him on X/Twitter @karanpradhan_