Former Australian wicket-keeper bat Brad Haddin has backed England to win the fifth and final Test match against India. The home team currently leads the Anderson-Tendulkar series by 2-1 after four Test matches.
The fourth Test match at Old Trafford, Manchester, ended in a draw after India came up with a rearguard batting performance in the second innings. The visitors posted 425-4 in 143 overs to save the Test match and kept themselves alive in the series.
Meanwhile, England were able to dominate the penultimate Test as they took a massive lead of 311 runs after posting 669 runs in the first innings.
“I thought England would win the series. I think I said 3-1 or 4-1 at the start. It’s interesting. Momentum changed a bit in that last day. I think England just banked on India rolling over but India found a way through the whole series to keep fighting back. I’m still going to go England,” Brad Haddin said on LiSTNR Sport.
On the other hand, Haddin said it would be interesting to note if Jasprit Bumrah would play the fifth Test after playing three Test matches in the ongoing series. It was predecided that Bumrah would play only three Test matches against England to manage his workload.
“There was a clear message at the start that he can’t play everything. It’ll be interesting to see how that plays off because he will have two days off. Do you as coach, because Bumrah is standing in the game, do you stick to what the plan was at the start? Or do you walk up to him and ask what do you want to do? The player is never going to say no. You’re not going to say no. They would have a lot of markers but I would expect Bumrah would play,” he said.
The fifth and final Test match between England and India will be played at the Kennington Oval, London, from 31st July onwards.
