Amidst fatigue, Stokes-less England and India brace for gruelling series decider at The Oval

London, July 30 Both England and India find themselves nursing mental and physical fatigue as they approach the end of a long Test series. But now, as the fifth and final Test starts at The Oval on Thursday, both teams must shake off the fatigue and give their best shot in a gruelling series decider.

The series has tested endurance, particularly of the fast bowlers, with every contest going into day five and setting the stage for a great finish. Remarkably, India still have a shot at squaring the series 2-2, thanks to a gritty draw at Old Trafford, led by a second innings resistance of 143 overs.

That match ended with some sparks as Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar completed their centuries and refused England captain Ben Stokes’s offer of a handshake to settle for a draw. With the happenings of Manchester still fresh, one shouldn’t be surprised if there’s some more drama under London skies.

Ben Stokes has been the heart and soul of this England side, but his heavy workload is of serious concern. At Old Trafford, Stokes put up a staggering show – hitting 141 and taking a five-for. Stokes now leads the series with 17 wickets and has bowled 140 overs — the most he has ever bowled in a single Test series.

But with Stokes out of the final Test due to a right shoulder injury, as well as Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, and Brydon Carse out of the eleven, England already have an uphill task on their hands to win the series against a determined Indian outfit.

Meanwhile, India also have some changes up their sleeve. Vice-captain Rishabh Pant, who sustained a right foot fracture in Manchester, is unavailable, which is a huge blow for the visitors’. Pant, who scored 479 runs at an average of 68.42, has been replaced in the squad by Narayan Jagadeesan, but Dhruv Jurel is expected to walk into the playing eleven.

With fast-bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who has played three Tests so far - the maximum he would feature in this series started – India might hand out a debut to young left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh, while there’s also case for Akash Deep, who took 10 wickets in India’s win in the second Test at Edgbaston and sat out of the Manchester game due to a groin niggle.

Squads:

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

India squad: 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 and N Jagadeesan

When: Thursday, July 31, 3:30 PM IST

Where: The Oval, London

Where to watch: Sony Sports network for live TV broadcast and JioHotstar for live streaming

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