The Indian cricket team is all set to take on England in the fifth and final Test in Manchester on September 10. While the feather forecast is in favour of the visitors, with rain expected on the first two days, Jasprit Bumrah‘s overworked body and Ajinkya Rahane’s poor performance is something that the management will have to think about.

As India enter the battlefield with a 2-1 lead over the hosts, Virat Kohli will be licking his chops as he is aiming to become the first captain to win an away Test series both in Australia (2018-19) and England (2021).

For Bumrah, he has bowled a staggering 151 overs in the past month, including 22 overs on the fourth and final Test of the Oval Test which India won by 157 runs.

The management will have to mull Rahane‘s inclusion in the playing XI. He has failed to hit the spot in his last seven innings and also did not fire on a good batting deck at the Oval.

However, Kohli might just give one last chance to his 33-year-old deputy.

Meanwhile, if Rahane faces the axe then it will either be Suryakumar Yadav or Hanuma Vihari. Both of them are resilient enough to trouble an English attack that might be without James Anderson.

With Mohammed Shami being declared fit, he is set to walk into the playing XI but skipper Kohli’s call in absence of head coach Ravi Shastri and bowling coach Bharath Arun, both suffering from COVID-19, will be crucial.

In perfect bowling conditions at Old Trafford, Kohli might be torn in his decision to include Bumrah or not. Keeping in mind the T20 World Cup, he would not be wanting to injure his bowler.

Umesh Yadav (6 wickets) and all-rounder Shardul Thakur (3 wickets 117 runs), after their respective impressive performances in the last game, aren’t going to be benched and Bumrah is someone who will be required big-time in the biggest game of the series.

In case, the team management looks at the bigger picture and decides to give Bumrah an option to cool his heels, then Mohammed Siraj may get another chance to prove his worth.

For England, Joe Root is their first and only hope and he would like to shrug off the Oval disappointment and ensure that he crosses the 600-run mark for the series.

Just like Rohit Sharma, who would like to overcome his knee injury and breach the 500-run mark for the five Tests, which will be a tremendous achievement for someone who was not a natural Test opener.

Root will get support from deputy Jos Buttler, who will be back in the playing XI and may replace Bairstow.

Mark Wood is likely to share the new ball with Chris Woakes as both Anderson and Craig Overton are likely to miss the Test.

Teams (from)

India: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Mayank Agarwal, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul, Wriddhiman Saha, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav, Shardul Thakur

England:

Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Jos Buttler, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Robinson, Sam Curran, Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood, James Anderson, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton.

Match Starts at 3:30 pm.