London: Come Wednesday, another cricketer could be making his Test debut for India.
Fast bowler Anshul Kamboj is on Team India’s radar as Shubman Gill’s men look to win the fourth Test against England at Manchester’s Old Trafford, and level the series at 2-2.
Many will ask, Anshul who?
Well, Kamboj is a 24-year-old pacer who can bowl quite fast.
Drafted into the squad following injuries to Arshdeep Singh, Akash Deep and allrounder Nitish Kumar, Kamboj could team up with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj as specialist fast bowlers for the crucial Test match beginning on Wednesday.
The choice will be between Prasidh Krishna, who was axed from the playing XI of the third Test after featuring in the first two games of the series, and rookie Kamboj.
Skipper Gill dropped enough hint to suggest the team management will pick Kamboj.
“Akash Deep is unavailable, so is Arshdeep, but we have good players in the team to pick 20 wickets. It is not ideal to have different bowlers, but I was prepared. He (Anshul Kamboj) is very close to making his debut. We will see between Prasidh and Anshul tomorrow,” Gill said on Tuesday, at the pre-match press conference.
“We have seen his (Kamboj’s) skill set. We have the belief that he can win matches for us. It is never easy when there are injuries. Nitish (Reddy) is missing and Akash is also unavailable for this match. But we have good enough players to take 20 wickets,” the India captain added.
If Kamboj does get his India cap on July 23, he will become India’s 318th Test cricketer.
Kamboj has played 24 first-class matches in India’s domestic circuit, and captured 79 wickets.
The Haryana boy impressed in a couple of matches for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2025, though the yellow brigade lost 10 of its 14 matches to finish last in the league stage.
Gill confirmed that Rishabh Pant, who had injured a finger during the third Test and didn’t don the big gloves for most of the match, will be the designated wicketkeeper in the Manchester Test.
Gill also reposed his faith in Karun Nair, who made a Test comeback in this series after seven years, but is yet to score a half-century in six innings.
“We think he is batting well. First match he didn’t play at his number (3). No issues with his batting… once you are able to get to 50 and get in the zone. We are hopeful that he can turn it around,” Gill said on Nair, who has produced scores of 0, 20, 31, 26, 40 and 14 in three Tests so far.
