Former England skipper Nasser Hussain has given his thoughts on how the hosts should go about picking their XI for the final Test in Manchester. The Tets match which remained under the cloud will be finally happening after Indian players tested negative in their recent RT PCR Tests following the positive case of their physio Yogesh Parmar.
In his Daily Mail column, the 53-year-old opined that the home team needs to pay attention to their team selection for the ultimate clash. Hussain further said that England picked the wrong side for the Oval Test. He said that their pacers did the job in the first innings but was found out in the second with Indian batsmen scoring 466 runs.
He said that England needs to pick a side that would survive across all five days and picked Mark Wood over Craig Overton in the lineup.
“For me, Mark Wood replaces Overton, because of the pace and reverse swing he can offer. And if England pick Jack Leach and go with two spinners, they need to have an honest conversation with Jimmy Anderson and Ollie Robinson. How fit are they after busting a gut at the Oval? Can they get through another punishing Test? They need to pick a team to flourish across all five days” said Hussain.
England Should Rest Anderson & Robinson: Nasser Hussain
Nasser Hussain also opined on the selection of a few other players. With Jos Buttler back in the squad, Hussain felt one among Ollie Pope and Jonny Bairstow should be picked. He also said that England needs to rest James Anderson and Ollie Robinson if they decide to go in with two spinners.
“It looks as if they’ll need to decide between Bairstow and Ollie Pope for the last batting spot, and I’d give it to Pope, who made 81 last week and feels more like the future than Bairstow” Hussain added.
Hello, Old Trafford 👋. Our final stop 📌#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/PUIyxFOPpV
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 8, 2021
India will be playing at Manchester, a venue where they have never won a Test match. The last game which they played at this venue was the 2019 World Cup semifinal losing the match against the Kiwis.
Also Read: ENG vs IND 2021: Aakash Chopra Makes Big Prediction Ahead Of Fifth Test
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