Kuldeep Yadav and Arshdeep Singh remained the only Indian players apart from Abhimanyu Easwaran to get no chance in the India Playing XI for the IND vs ENG 5th Test. With the Oval pitch sporting a greenish look, head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Shubman Gill opted for three seamers. While Mohammed Siraj stays put, India have rested Jasprit Bumrah and dropped Anshul Kamboj for Akash Deep while Prasidh Krishna also returns. Karun Nair has also got a chance, probably his last, in place of Shardul Thakur. Dhruv Jurel, as expected, has replaced injured Rishabh Pant.
“I don’t mind losing the toss as long as we win the game. I was a bit confused yesterday about what to do. It was a bit overcast but the wicket looks good. We’ll look to post good runs in the first innings. It 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,” India captain Shubman Gill said at the toss.
Who’s in, who’s out?
- Dhruv Jurel for Rishabh Pant
- Prasidh Krishna for Jasprit Bumrah
- Akash Deep for Anshul Kamboj
- Karun Nair for Shardul Thakur
India Playing XI for 5th Test
- Yashasvi Jaiswal
- KL Rahul
- Sai Sudharsan
- Shubman Gill (C)
- Karun Nair
- Ravindra Jadeja
- Dhruv Jurel (WK)
- Washington Sundar
- Akash Deep
- Prasidh Krishna
- Mohammed Siraj
No Jasprit Bumrah
While there were murmurs about Jasprit Bumrah being rested for the 5th Test, it has come true. Despite the pitch sporting a green tinge, India have not risked Bumrah, who has a niggle. Bumrah has been India’s top wicket-taker in the series with 14 scalps.
However, as it was decided pre-series, Bumrah would only play three Tests, and he missed out on the last Test. But it is not due to workload. Rather, Bumrah misses out due to a niggle, as per reports.
Last chance for Karun Nair?
Instead of going with Shardul Thakur to have depth in the seam department, India have opted for a specialist. Karun Nair gets his last chance at the Oval at No 5. Nair has averaged 21.83 in six innings, scoring 131 runs. While he has got starts in five innings, he could not convert either of them, failing to score a single half-century in the entire series.
However, with Rishabh Pant out and Dhruv Jurel coming in, India have opted for some experience in the middle-order. But this does not guarantee a permanent spot for Nair beyond the IND vs ENG Test series if he fails at the Oval. With Sarfaraz Khan, Devdutt Padikkal and Shreyas Iyer waiting in the wings, this is Nair’s last chance saloon to keep the coveted spot.
