England has recruited Jamie Overton to their team for the fifth Test against India. Overton, who recently played for Surrey in the County Championship, is the sole newcomer to the side that competed in the fourth Test at Old Trafford, where India fought hard to draw and keep the series alive.
England’s bowlers faced a rigorous task in the fourth Test, bowling 257.1 overs over two innings. Following the game, captain Ben Stokes acknowledged the need for fresh legs, clearing the way for Overton’s comeback.
“If you look at how long we’ve been out in the field and how many overs we bowled as a bowling unit, everyone is going to be sore and tired heading into the final game of the series.” There will be an assessment of everyone, and hopefully we will be able to use the next two or three days of rest judiciously before making a decision,” said Stokes.
“These recovery days will be critical, and we may need to make some decisions to bring some fresh legs in. But that will not be decided until we get closer to the last game,” he said.
England’s bowling attack has remained mostly consistent across the first four Tests, with only a few alterations. After the first two games, a fit Jofra Archer replaced Josh Tongue, while Liam Dawson was brought in at Old Trafford to replace the injured Shoaib Bashir. Chris Woakes has taken the biggest workload, bowling 167 overs, more than any other player on either side, followed by Brydon Carse (155) and Stokes (140). Notably, Archer returned to the red-ball format after a four-year sabbatical.
Gus Atkinson, who was slated to appear in the season, could now replace Woakes. He demonstrated his fitness by playing for Surrey’s second XI last week after recovering from a hamstring injury. Tongue, England’s second-highest wicket-taker in the series with 11 scalps, is still a strong contender for selection. Meanwhile, Overton’s recall would be his first Test participation since his debut in 2022.
England squad for the fifth Test
Ben Stokes (C), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (WK), Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes
India squad for the fifth Test
Shubman Gill (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Kuldeep Yadav, Anshul Kamboj, Arshdeep Singh, N Jagadeesan (WK).
India
