The inaugural Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy is in its final stage, with the series still alive and both India and England having a lot to play for. England will aim to win the series and retain the trophy, while India would want to level the series, after playing 15-16 good days of cricket. Shubman Gill mentioned the fact that the scoreline may not suggest how well India have played, but the Oval Test will provide a final opportunity to the visitors to showcase what they have got, with a rather inexperienced squad.
First things first, no Ben Stokes for England and no Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah for India! That does take the sheen off the contest, but both teams have quality replacements to fill in. England have brought in Jacob Bethell, while India will bring back Akash Deep, who ended up taking a 10-fer for the match at Edgbaston, which was the only game India have won in the series. On the other hand, England lose two players in one, Stokes, the charismatic leader, the workhorse with the ball and the batter, who had just started to find his feet, having smashed a century last week.
The pitch is set to be green, which means that the bowlers might have a big say in the contest and hence, India might weigh in on having an extra batter in Karun Nair in place of Shardul Thakur. Looks like Arshdeep Singh is going to make his debut as well. England have the momentum but if India select right, we could be in for another enthralling week of Test match cricket.
My Dream11 team for ENG vs IND 5th Test
Shubman Gill, Ben Duckett, Jamie Smith, Harry Brook, KL Rahul (c), Ravindra Jadeja, Gus Atkinson (vc), Jamie Overton, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Josh Tongue
Playing XIs
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton, Josh Tongue
India (probable): Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Karun Nair/Shardul Thakur, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj