London: India’s prospects of signing off the UK tour with some serious bragging rights brightened by a few notches on the eve of fifth Test with England’s talismanic skipper Ben Stokes and pacer Jofra Archer rendered unavailable for the game starting Thursday.
Stokes, the inspirational skipper who pushed the limits of his body while bowling in the last two Tests, was ruled out with a muscle tear on his right shoulder while comeback man Archer was rested after the workload of playing in back-to-back matches.
Pacer Brydon Carse and left-arm spinner Liam Dawson have also been rested.
There are players whose mere presence makes a difference and the England skipper, a world class all-rounder with 304 runs and 17 wickets in the series, is one such character.
What the English team will miss most at The Oval is his inspirational presence when the chips are down and showing the way how it is done.
Stand-in captain Ollie Pope will have his task cut out as the Indian team, even without Jasprit Bumrah, is expected to go for the kill.
The series, played in front of packed crowds, has also been a perfect advert for Test cricket with all four games stretching to the final session on day five.
Not to forget the skirmishes along the way that have spiced it up enough for the fans of the game’s traditional format.
From Shubman Gill’s tirade against Zak Crawley for “deliberately” wasting time at Lord’s to Ravindra Jadeja refusing to call off proceedings on the final day at Old Trafford, things couldn’t have gotten hotter before the series entered the final phase in sweltering London.
Gautam Gambhir, who is always up for a scrap, has only intensified it with his altercation with Oval curator Lee Fortis two days before the game.
In this backdrop, expect the series finale to go down to the wire as India under the ever-improving Gill has a chance to land a killer blow on an English team whose bowling attack will undergo a sea-change with no specialist spinner in the playing XI.
Gus Atkinson and Jamie Overton, the two Surrey players, who know The Oval track like the back of their palms, will be joining forces with Chris Woakes and Josh Tongue to make it a four-pronged attack.
With Woakes being the only bowler who has remained constant from first to fifth Test, England are giving indications of continuing with their Bazball way, having inducted a specialist heavy duty hitter in Jacob Bethell.
History beckons Gill
In his first series as captain of a team undergoing a major transition, Gill has led from the front and with 722 runs so far, he is only 52 shy off Sunil Gavaskar’s record of most runs by an Indian in a single rubber.
He needs another 11 runs to surpass Gavaskar’s record of most runs (732) by an Indian captain in a Test series (1978-79 vs West Indies).
The 25-year-old has come of age with four hundreds thus far including a double century and a match-saving 103 in the previous Test at Old Trafford. After low returns in three innings, Gill played the most defining knock of his career in Manchester to enhance his reputation, not just as a batter but also as a captain.
Having played a massive role in earning a famous draw from an almost hopeless situation, Gill and his team go into the match with momentum on their side but gaps to fill.
With 511 runs, K L Rahul has been a model of consistency at the top of the order but more will be expected from Yashasvi Jaiswal and number three Sai Sudharsan on what is generally a decent batting surface.
Team Combination
In injured Rishabh Pant’s absence, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja are expected to round up the top six following unbeaten hundreds, which denied England a victory in the fourth Test.
The Indian management firmly believes in having a batting option till number eight and that could possibly lead to Kuldeep Yadav being once again left out of the XI despite constant calls for his inclusion over the course of a long and gruelling series.
Dhruv Jurel will keep the wickets and could bat at seven in Pant’s absence and Shardul Thakur might retain his place at eight despite not exactly enjoying the confidence of his skipper.
Going by batting coach Sitanshu Kotak’s comments ahead of the fifth Test, India will retain the template that has been followed thus far.
“Overall, if you play with 6 bowlers, then some bowlers will under-bowl. So, if that 6th bowler is an all-rounder, then you know that he will contribute in batting and in bowling as well,” Kotak said.
On the bowling front, Akash Deep is expected to replace Jasprit Bumrah in the XI with the latter advised to not push his body.
Mohammed Siraj will be the leader of the attack and the third pacer’s spot will go to either Prasidh Krishna or Arshdeep Singh, who has patiently been waiting for his Test debut.
Surrey amassed more than 800 runs in the last County game played here but it remains to be seen how the pitch behaves during the high-stakes clash.
Teams:
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton, Josh Tongue.
India (from): Shubman Gill (captain), 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).
Match Starts: 3:30 pm IST.
