Ex-Indian batter Mohammad Kaif criticised Shubman Gill for dropping Karun Nair from the playing XI for the decisive fourth Test against England at Old Trafford in Manchester. The former right-handed batter wrote that Gill lost the chance to earn some respect on the front of making some tough decisions.

Nair, who marked his return to the Test side after seven years on the back of some outstanding performances in the domestic circuit, has been dropped from the playing XI in Manchester. The veteran has managed a high score of 40 in three Tests across six innings, forcing the management to wield the axe and including B Sai Sudharsan.

Taking to X, Kaif wrote:

"Today was Shubman Gill's chance to back karun who was down but deserved one more chance. He should have picked Karun Nair. Chance missed to earn the respect when it comes to making tough decisions as a leader."

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"Cricket gave him another chance" - Sanjay Manjrekar on Karun Nair

Speaking on Jio Star before the start of the play on day 1, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar reflected on Nair's tweet of 'Cricket, give me another chance' in 2022 and stated:

"It was an emotional story where he said, 'Cricket, give me another chance'. Cricket gave him another chance. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to catch it. And, you know, we have Sai Sudarshan coming back. So that was the story. Good to see Sai Sudarshan back, because I thought he should have played the second test as well."

Having won the toss for the fourth consecutive time in the series, England captain Ben Stokes sent the tourists into bat. Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul have made a solid start in tricky batting conditions, stitching a 50-run stand.