Indian captain Shubman Gill thinks it will be quite “significant” if he is able to draw the series after having weathered the challenges for the past one and a half month. He had a younger side to lead. He had a cap to utilize India’s numero uno bowler. And most of all, he had a relentless English side to face. His predecessor Rohit Sharma managed to get the same results the last time they were here, with far better men at his command. But could Gill even get to a draw?
England, though weakened by injuries and replacements, have played intelligent (which turned somewhat graceless in the last few days) cricket in the series. While a good chunk of that owes to Ben Stokes, who will not be there for his team, there’s still a decent chance they will try to keep the result from changing to a draw or a defeat. From them, there is only one acceptable ending to nearly 45 days of thrill, and that’s them winning the series.
Team Overview:
England announced a squad with four changes on the eve of the fifth Test match. One of them was, of course, Stokes’ exclusion because of a grade-three tear in his shoulder muscle, which had him in discomfort on the last day of the Old Trafford Test. Besides him, England have also rested Brydon Carse and Jofra Archer.
There will not be any rest for Chris Woakes, who is set to play his fifth Test of the series, and on top of that, he has to lead an inexperienced bowling attack consisting of Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson, and Jamie Overton. The three bowlers share a total of 12 Test caps between them. Lastly, England have also included Jacob Bethell, who scored 260 across six innings against New Zealand last year and wasn’t expecting to wait seven months to get his next Test cap. He will be playing at No. 6, replacing Stokes.
England are punting on going with a four-headed pace attack, and no specialist spinner. Their only spin options would be part-timers Joe Root and Bethell. Stokes said they were hoping the Oval would act in its usual pace-friendly way.
India are very secretive about their final XI, and have been always so, despite many teams trying to play mind games with announcing the teams before the match day. India hasn’t given in to that peer pressure. However, they did reveal that Jasprit Bumrah will not be forced to play more than his earlier-decided three-games limit, even if the series is on the line. India have their injury issues too, perhaps more than England. Rishabh Pant has been ruled out with a broken foot. Akash Deep, who is expected to be fit having been unavailable in the last game, might come in for Bumrah.
India have had a huge pressure to play Kuldeep Yadav, which they haven’t done the entire series. They now face a situation where he might be their answer to the shortage. However, he might not be their sharpest tool at the Oval, where spinners haven’t had as much sway as the pacers.
Head-to-Head Matches:
India and England have played a staggering 140 matches between them. Of these, 51 games ended in a draw. The remaining 53 games were won by England, and 36 by India.
Weather and Pitch Report:
In the build-up to this game, plenty happened at the Oval, the spiciest of which was the kerfuffle between Indian coach Gautam Gambhir and Surrey groundsman Lee Fortis. That didn’t take away the spotlight from the fact that the ground had a generous covering of green one day out from the match.
The forecast is promising for the first couple of days, with weather likely to stay warm, though a few light showers might make their way to the ground. However, expect the weather to get bleak in the latter part of the match.
Prediction:
India said they are happy with anything but a defeat, while England seem to be only pushing for that, it’s tough to say at this point who will have the edge, but in the battle of their survival, India might get this one better.
Where to Watch:
India: Sony Sports, JioHotstar
UK: Sky Sports and Sky Go/Now
Pakistan: Tapmad
South Africa: SuperSport Cricket, SuperSport Grandstand, DSTV app
US and Canada: Willow TV
