The fifth Test between India and England gets underway on Thursday, July 31, at The Oval in London. The five-match series is intriguingly placed at 1-2 in favour of the Three Lions. Ollie Pope is all set to lead England in the absence of Ben Stokes.
Toss Update
Ollie Pope won the toss and had no hesitation in opting to bowl first. He said that the conditions are overcast and his bowlers would want to use it to their advantage. Shubman said that he was actually confused about what to do had he won the toss. He said that his team will look to post a big total in the first innings.
Both teams make wholesale changes
England made four changes to their lineup from the previous game. Ben Stokes, Liam Dawson, Brydon Carse, and Jofra Archer have made way for Jacob Bethell, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton, and Josh Tongue. The England skipper was ruled out with a torn shoulder muscle. Archer and Carse, on the other hand, have been rested. Dawson, on the other hand, has been dropped.
On the other hand, India will not have the services of Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah. While Pant sustained a foot fracture in the previous Test, Bumrah has been rested to manage his workload. Anshul Kamboj and Shardul Thakur have also been left out. Dhruv Jurel, Akash Deep, Karun Nair, and Prasidh Krishna come into the lineup.
What did the captains say?
England captain Ollie Pope
We’ll bowl. Bit overcast, no-brainer to have a bowl on this pitch. Lost the captain but the others are tracking nicely, we’ve got a few fresh faces as well. We bat deep, Gus Atkinson and Overton have got runs. We’re not going to contend with 2:2, we want to go out there and win it.
India captain Shubman Gill
Don’t mind losing the toss as long as we win the game. Was a bit confused yesterday about what to do, was a bit overcast but the wicket looks good, we’ll look to post good runs in the first innings. Should be a good pitch for the bowlers. We’ve got three changes. Jurel, Karun and Prasidh in for Pant, Shardul and Bumrah. We look for a win every game we play, we’ve come close and it’s about that 5-10% extra push, boys will be giving it their all.
Playing 11s
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Smith (WK), Gus Atkinson, Chris Woakes, Jamie Overton, Josh Tongue.
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (C), Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.
India
