In the fifth and final Test match against Team India, England skipper Ollie Pope has won the toss and elected to bowl first at The Oval.
The Shubman Gill-led India is trailing the five-match Test series by 1-2 against the `Three Lions`. The hosts will miss the services of their skipper Ben Stokes and lead pacer Jofra Archer. Stokes was ruled out of the fifth Test match, as he sustained a shoulder injury.
On the other hand, Team India will look to make the most out of the opportunity as England will line up without the likes of these two players. India, too, will line up without the likes of swashbuckling batsman Rishabh Pant and lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah. In Pant`s absence, Dhurv Jurel will don the `Big Gloves`, and Prasidh Krishna has made the cut as the think tank decides to provide rest to Bumrah.
Earlier, there were many speculations over Bumrah`s feature. A certain group of fans criticised the pacer for opting out, considering his workload management. Jurel, coming in as a replacement, will have a crucial role to play.
Additionally, a century would help India`s in-form opening batsman, KL Rahul, become the first-ever Indian opening batsman to register three centuries in England. So far, he has scored 1125 runs, with four centuries in 26 innings and a top score of 149 runs
With the series on the line, it will be interesting to see if Gill manages to draw the series in his captaincy debut. In case India loses the series, head coach Gautam Gambhir will then find himself in a difficult situation. Speaking about Gambhir, former England skipper Michael Atherton said, “Well, they`ve lost two series in a row. They lost at home to New Zealand 3-0 and they lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 3-1. If they lose this series then yeah, he`s under pressure as a coach”.
Ind vs Eng 5th Test: Confirmed playing XI
India`s Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (C), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.
England`s Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton, Josh Tongue.
