India is currently playing the fourth Test in Manchester, looking to dominate early to evade their trail in the series. The Manchester track is expected to be another flat track, marking India batting first after Ben Stokes chose to bowl again.
Indian openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul once again took the field to mark the proceedings of the Indian innings. KL Rahul comes from a comprehensive Lord’s Test, where the Indian opener scored a stunning hundred in the first innings and was the second-highest run-getter in the second with 39 more.
However, Yashasvi Jaiswal, who made a good start to the series with a hundred at Headingley and backed it with another half-century in Birmingham, could not get himself going at Lord’s. The youngster hence feels the heat of a do-or-die must-win Test at Manchester.
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Watch: Yashasvi Jaiswal’s bat broken into pieces by England pacer Chris Woakes
Yashasvi Jaiswal, unlike KL Rahul, comes out from a weak show at Lord’s; hence, the pressure might be straight on the Indian youngster. He looked disturbed by Chris Woakes, who troubled him with several balls that nipped back into the batter.
In the 9th over of the game, Woakes, who is not known for sheer pace, came in to bowl his 5th delivery of the over, and as soon as the ball struck the bat, it was broken, left in two pieces.
pic.twitter.com/cakkabKwNK
— Drizzyat12Kennyat8 (@45kennyat7PM) July 23, 2025
Well… that’s not supposed to happen 😅
The Woakes delivery cracks the handle of Jaiswal’s bat pic.twitter.com/OOgrdWU0BW— CBK (@CBKunchained) July 23, 2025
However, the credit is not entirely to the bowler, as Jaiswal played the shot with a probable loose, high-held grip that led to the occurrence. Karun Nair was seen steaming in with a set of bats after the incident.
England shocks everyone with decision to bowl on a flat pitch
The Manchester pitch just doesn’t look like how pitches used to be at this very venue. The pitch looks very flat with not much help for the bowlers, though it can be spotted that it has considerable portions of green patches.
India has never won a single Test match at this venue, and they have another humiliating record here. No Indian batter has scored a Test hundred at Manchester in the last 35 years; it was back in 1990, when Sachin Tendulkar scored a hundred for India at this venue.
However, this time India will have to turn the fortunes just like they did at Birmingham. The first thing that India would have wanted is to bat on this track, and England, after winning the toss, has given them the exact opportunity.
India has enjoyed batting here, with KL Rahul scoring runs quite easily against any of the English bowlers. With the flow of runs unchecked and the Indian batters untroubled, England skipper Ben Stokes had to bring himself into the attack once again early in the game.
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Indian openers hand a successful first session
The visitors have struggled with early wickets, as even in the batting masterclasses from the Men in Blue helmets, they have lost one of their two openers early. There has not been an instance yet where both the Indian openers have shared a promising partnership.
However, after some resistance, the Indian openers have reached a good-looking 50-run opening stand for India at Manchester. Both players have contributed significantly, with Jaiswal contributing 18 and KL Rahul being the larger contributor with 32 runs off his bat.
