England and India will square off in the 5th Test match of the ongoing series on 31stJuly at The Oval with England leading the series by 2-1.
Match Preview:
With 11 hundreds to England’s seven, India’s hitters currently rank among the top four run scorers in the series, despite England’s lead. There will inevitably be a cumulative effect of those long and ineffective hours on the field on the attack’s mentality, let alone their stamina, despite Bazball’s belief in bowling long and supporting their batsmen to equal any given innings in double time. Woakes’ returns—10 wickets at 52.80, compared to his previous home average of 21.59 from 34 previous Tests—have summed up the fundamental weakness of their attack. The pitches, which were a topic of conversation even before Lee Fortis entered the fray, have been flat and unforgiving with only a few exceptions throughout the session.
Of course, India has its own worries about that. In England’s lone innings at Old Trafford, where Joe Root and Stokes dominated the agenda following a brilliant start from Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley, their own attack was completely without in ideas. They need 20 wickets to guarantee a share of this series. The onus will be on the returning Akash Deep and Mohammad Siraj, who together took 17 wickets in that historic victory at Edgbaston, while Jasprit Bumrah will not be playing.
Though it is difficult to say, desire might be the decisive element in this intriguing story. It would be an insult to the sincere respect that arose following England’s agonizingly close triumph at Lord’s earlier this month to say that the series is degenerating into foul-tempered chaos. To embrace their inner Kevin Keegan, both teams would undoubtedly “love it” if they defeated the other this week. To cross the finish line, either side might need to tear multiple sinews, particularly if the test’s back-end forecast is accurate. Unfortunately for England, previous effort has already incapacitated their crucial bit of sinew. It’s for sale right now.
Playing XI:
England: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope (capt), 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Jacob Bethell, 7 Jamie Smith (wk), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Gus Atkinson,
10 Jamie Overton, 11 Josh Tongue.
India (probable): 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 KL Rahul, 3 B Sai Sudharsan, 4 Shubman Gill (capt), 5 Washington Sundar, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Dhruv Jurel (wk), 8 Shardul Thakur/ Kuldeep Yadav/Arshdeep Singh, 9 Akash Deep, 10 Prasidh Krishna, 11 Mohammed Siraj
Pitch and weather report:
Given the commotion that began on Monday, who would venture near the field to do a thorough analysis? Even though a lot may alter in a day, the surface still had a green tint on match eve. Although rains are predicted for Thursday afternoon and further rain is possible towards the end of the game, the weather is generally expected to be warm.
Head-to-head record:
India and England have faced off 268 times, with England winning 108, India 103, and 51 matches ending in a tie.
Where to Watch:
Pakistan: Tapmad
India: JioHotstar app and website
UK: Sky Go and Sky Now
South Africa: DSTV app
US and Canada: Willow Tv
