England Bowl First in Decider as India Make Four Changes at The Oval

England Bowl First in Decider as India Make Four Changes at The Oval

England won the toss and chose to bowl under overcast skies at The Oval in the fifth and final Test of the series against India. With the series delicately poised at 2-2, the decider promises high drama, but India’s toss woes continued as captain Shubman Gill lost his 15th straight coin flip of the tour.

Standing in for the injured Ben Stokes, England captain Ollie Pope had no hesitation in opting to field first, capitalizing on green conditions and a pitch that has consistently assisted seamers. This is the 22nd first-class game at The Oval since May 2023, and remarkably, every single toss-winning captain has chosen to bowl — a testament to the fast-bowler-friendly surface. Since the start of 2023, seamers have claimed 617 wickets here, compared to just 79 by spinners.

India made four changes to their XI. Jasprit Bumrah (rested for workload management), Rishabh Pant (out with a broken foot), and Anshul Kamboj (left out) were replaced by Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel, and a fully fit Akash Deep. The fourth change was tactical, with Karun Nair coming in for Shardul Thakur, who bowled only 27 overs across two Tests and did not make a major impact.

Gill, speaking before the match, admitted humorously that the toss was the main thing on his mind. Yet again, he called heads — and lost.

England had already confirmed their XI, with Jacob Bethell, Josh Tongue, Jamie Overton, and Gus Atkinson coming in for Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse, and Liam Dawson.

Teams:

England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (capt), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton, Josh Tongue

India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, B Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (capt), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj

With momentum said to be with India, former England pacer Steve Harmison still rated the hosts as 60:40 favourites, citing home conditions and seam-friendly pitch dynamics. All signs point to a gripping conclusion to what has been a tightly contested series.

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