England vs India, TEST, 4th Test, July 23, 2025 - Match Info

"Sitanshu Kotak spending a lot of time with Shardul," says Kaushik. "Gill as ever is taking a lot of throwdowns." On a separate topic, Akash Deep is bowling full tilt for the first time in Manchester.

There was a short spell before tea yesterday when Brydon Carse, who had mostly been anonymous with the ball in this Test, found some good rhythm with his outswingers. He probed away in the channel, drew false shots out of Rahul, and nearly had Gill caught at backward point. Rahul, after a loose drive, was seen shaking his head forcefully in what seemed like an effort to get it out of his system. It was one of the rare phases with the old ball that created some jeopardy and both the Indian batters came out of it unscathed. There might be many more phases of such jeopardy today and the enormity of this challenge can't be understated.

England assistant coach Marcus Trescothick was hopeful last evening that Ben Stokes would recover from the bout of cramp he suffered and be able to bowl today. Stokes can be seen going through the drills from the live pictures coming in from Old Trafford. There's a reason for a lot of focus being on the England captain. Not only does he have a penchant for the big occasion, he is also the leading wicket-taker of the series and has been in superb rhythm. He even picked up a five-for only a couple of days ago in the first innings. However, he suffered cramp while batting, had to retire hurt late on Day 3, came back to complete his hundred later on but didn't bowl a single ball yesterday as the hosts were forced to use the likes of Dawson and Root extensively despite the lack of help for spinners.

"Good morning from Manchester," greets Kaushik, our correspondent at Old Trafford. "Weather first then? It's cool and overcast but no rain! Yesterday there was upto 40% chance of rain at day start. Down to 22% now."

Day 5, 10.05am local, 2.35pm IST: They lost a Test that should've been won in Leeds and squandered a position of great strength at Lord's. 1-2 down in the series and 1 for 2 at lunch on the fourth day in Manchester. No hope in hell of making a fight of it after spending 157 overs in the field with the opposition batters piling on the agony. 400.. 500.. 600-plus. Dead and buried right? And yet, here they are, trying to salvage the unsalvageable, one over at a time, one ball at a time. There were a little more than five sessions left when Shubman Gill and KL Rahul joined hands, and they have seen off two of them by themselves. But this is where it gets even harder as we head into the final day where the eyes will keep shuffling from the clock to the skies to the new ball and to that man who is known to come alive in these situations even though he didn't bowl yesterday. Hello and welcome to our coverage of Day 5 at Old Trafford...

The day started with India looking down and out on the field. Stokes was hammering the bowlers everywhere, and even raised his first hundred in two years. But Rahul and Gill have managed to change the mood with a great show of defiance. And it's not that they've needed a lot of luck either. There was one dropped catch from Dawson off Gill shortly before the tea break. But other than that, and except a few plays and misses against the new ball, both of them have been in total control of proceedings. The pitch isn't misbehaving too much when the ball is older and softer. The big challenge will be when the second new ball becomes available at some point tomorrow in the first session. Long way to go still and England are still favourites. But the way this series has gone, you can expect some drama. There's some talk of rain as well. All the makings of another thrilling finish. That's all for now. Back tomorrow for more. See you!

Indian openers with 500-plus runs in an Away Test series \n774 - Sunil Gavaskar in WI, 1971 \n542 - Sunil Gavaskar in ENG, 1979 \n508* - KL Rahul in ENG, 2025 *

Multiple Indian batters with 500-plus in the same Away Test series \nSunil Gavaskar (774) & Dilip Sardesai (642) vs WI, 1970-71 \nShubman Gill (697*) & KL Rahul (508*) vs ENG, 2025*

KL Rahul becomes the second Asian opener to aggregate 500-plus runs in a Test series in England, after Sunil Gavaskar (542 in 1979). He’s also the second visiting opener to do that in the country in the 21st century after Graeme Smith (714 runs in 2003).

First time a pair has batted through two complete sessions in an innings in this series. \nRahul & Gill vs Dawson today \nOff the back foot: 24 off 38 \nOther deliveries: 12 off 94

18:33 Local Time, 17:33 GMT, 23:03 IST: Stumps on Day 4! Rahul and Gill walk off to applause, having defied the English bowlers for more than 62 overs with an unbeaten partnership of 174. The goal of saving the Test is still a long way away, but at least they have given Indian fans a reason to believe in the improbable. The duo joined hands before lunch when the score was 0/2. Now they walk off after forcing England to play the waiting game, seen by how the hosts had to use a lot of overs of Dawson and even Root towards the fag end of the day. With Ben Stokes not bowling so far, the England attack hasn't carried the same edge and they've struggled to create many chances with the old ball despite trying different things, including a burst with the short ball.

62.6 Root to Rahul, no run, big roar from the crowd as Rahul gets forward and blocks this final delivery. Gambhir is on his feet on the balcony in applause. It's a partnership that has raised hopes of the improbable and kept India believing going into the final day

62.5 Root to Rahul, no run, skidding across middle and off, good length ball, Rahul defends from the crease

62.4 Root to Rahul, no run, Rahul hobbling in pain after being hit on the knee. Good length ball down leg, looks to initially work it through the on-side, then decides to pad it away but gets hit on the knee. He'll be okay

62.3 Root to Gill, 1 run, flicked to short midwicket who misfields and it's another single

62.2 Root to Rahul, 1 run, pushed to mid-off where Archer misfields. Rahul wasn't paying attention as he immediately started marking his guard after playing the shot. But there's enough time for them to pick up a single

62.1 Root to Rahul, no run, tossed up on leg, defended forward

Root to bowl the final over of the day. Round the wicket, slip, leg slip and short leg in place

61.6 Dawson to Gill, no run, darted in on a good length just outside off, 94kph, Gill goes back and cuts to backward point

61.5 Dawson to Gill, no run, full on off, driven to mid-off