“There have been 11 changes over four matches” - Former India cricketer slams team management amid ENG vs IND 2025 5th Test

Former India opener Navjot Singh Sidhu has criticized the team management for making frequent changes throughout the ongoing Test series against England. In the fifth Test, which began on Thursday, July 31, at The Kennington Oval in London, Shubman Gill’s side made four changes to the playing XI.

With Rishabh Pant ruled out due to injury, Dhruv Jurel was brought in. Meanwhile, Karun Nair, Akash Deep, and Prasidh Krishna replaced Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, and Anshul Kamboj.

On Friday, August 1, Sidhu shared a video on his YouTube channel (@NavjotSidhuOfficial), where he slammed the management for the constant chopping and changing. Sidhu said:

“The biggest thing, if you look at this entire tour overall, is that there have been almost 11 changes across four Test matches. From the team that played the first Test, there have been 11 changes over four matches. Okay, Rishabh Pant had an injury, that's understandable. Bumrah is coming and going. Shardul Thakur is coming in, then going out. Sai is in one game, out the next. Apart from KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal, there doesn't seem to be any settled combination at the top.”

“Then Karun Nair is being dropped and brought back. Prasidh Krishna is going out and then coming back. Akash Deep gets injured and returns. Then suddenly Anshul Kamboj appears like a bolt from the blue. He sprang up like a mushroom with a roar. So with so many changes, it's starting to feel like a game of musical chairs. Somewhere down the line, India will have to settle down with a stable and established combination,” he added.

Meanwhile, after being put in to bat, the visitors closed Day 1 at 204/6 after 64 overs, with Karun Nair (52) and Washington Sundar (19) unbeaten at the crease. For England, Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue picked up two wickets each, while Chris Woakes chipped in with one.

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“He rose from the grave” - Sidhu hails Karun Nair for his gritty fifty on Day 1 of the 5th Test

In the same video, Navjot Singh Sidhu praised Karun Nair for his composed and unbeaten fifty on Day 1. The 33-year-old had featured in the first three Tests of the series but struggled to convert his starts into substantial scores, with a top score of 40.

Consequently, he was left out of the Manchester Test but earned a recall for the fifth and final match. Making the most of his return, Nair notched up his first fifty of the series and remained unbeaten on 52 at stumps. Applauding his efforts, Sidhu said:

“When everyone was saying Karun Nair’s career was over, he rose from the grave with a beautiful, gritty 52 and stood like a wall. These 52 runs for India today, along with his partnership with Washington Sundar, I believe are no less than a century. Remember, Sunil Gavaskar once said that his fifty at Manchester on a green-top pitch was one of the finest innings he ever played. It is not about the number of runs, it is about the quality of those runs and the conditions in which they were made.”

“Two factors worked in his favor for getting back into the team. You see, this is how we humans are, at the mercy of nature. Just when everyone thinks it's over for someone, life is what happens when you are busy making other plans. The technique he showed today was better. I'm not saying it was perfect. Sometimes he opens up a bit, sometimes he plays away from the body, but on a green-top pitch, in a tight situation, that fifty and the way he created scoring opportunities, those beautiful drives, the straight drive he played and that one flick shot, were worth their weight in gold,” he added.

Nair has accumulated 183 runs in seven innings across four matches in the series so far, averaging 30.50 with one half-century to his name.