ENG vs IND 2025: Anshul Kamboj emerges as strong contender for India's third pacer in Manchester

Young and upcoming fast bowler Anshul Kamboj is likely to be brought into the mix for India's fourth Test against England during the ongoing five-match series. On Monday, July 21, he replaced the injured Nitish Kumar Reddy after the all-rounder flew back to recover from a knee injury.

The medium-pacer was spotted grinding it out under the sun in Manchester while bowling extended spells during the net session held on Monday, July 21. He was spotted bowling alongside Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Prasidh Krishna, as the visiting side prepares its bowling unit for the do-or-die encounter at the Old Trafford in Manchester.

Head coach Gautam Gambhir and bowling coach Morne Morkel could be spotted engaging in conversations with him, as per The Hindu, while he bowled to the likes of KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, and Rishabh Pant. The 24-year-old could be seen challenging batters with his pace occasionally. National selectors — Ajit Agarkar and SS Das, had been keeping a close eye on the Haryana pacer.

Bumrah will be leading the pace attack with the series on the line. Siraj is also an automatic choice, unless of course team combinations are prioritized. Akash Deep and Arshdeep Singh are yet to fully recover from their injuries, making Kamboj a potential candidate for the third seaming option. He could quite easily make his national debut on Wednesday, July 23.

Kamboj recently played a couple of games for India A against England ahead of the commencement of this series. He was particularly impressive in the second encounter in Northampton, where the Karnal-born registered figures of 2/56 and 2/6, respectively. Interestingly, he also struck an unbeaten 51 in the second innings during the same game.

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Mohammed Siraj had also pointed out that there might be a change in the bowling combinations. Hence, it seems more than likely that Kamboj makes his debut in a few days' time. India currently are running behind in the series by 1-2 and will be aiming at levelling the series in Manchester after going down at Lord's by a marginal 22-run deficit.