England have made four changes to their playing XI for the fifth Test against India at The Oval.
Ben Stokes ruled out of fifth Test vs India, England make four changes in all
On Thursday (July 30), a day out from the fifth Test at The Oval, England announced their XI for the match, including four changes: “Captain Ben Stokes is unavailable due to a right shoulder injury. Also missing out are spinner Liam Dawson and pace bowlers Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse.
“England have included Jacob Bethell, who will bat at No.6. Surrey bowlers Gus Atkinson and Jamie Overton come into the side, along with Nottinghamshire quick Josh Tongue.”
vs
5th Test, England vs India
Stokes suffered a hamstring injury during the fourth Test, which saw him retire hurt while batting on day three, before resuming his innings later on. But on day five, as the England captain took on more of a role with the ball, his right shoulder did appear to trouble him throughout the day.
Dawson replaced the injured Shoaib Bashir, and played his first Test in eight years in Manchester. But Jacob Bethell provides England with a left-arm spin option like Dawson, and serves as Stokes's replacement with the bat at six. Josh Tongue has also returned, presumably to make up for the absence of Stokes's bowling.
Archer played his first Test in over four years at Lord's, before playing at Old Trafford as well. With a short turnaround between the fourth and fifth Tests, he has likely been left out as part of workload management, as is the case with Brydon Carse. Jamie Overton and Gus Atkinson are like-for-like replacements.
England playing XI for fifth Test against India
- Zak Crawley
- Ben Duckett
- Ollie Pope (c)
- Joe Root
- Harry Brook
- Jacob Bethell
- Jamie Smith (wk)
- Chris Woakes
- Gus Atkinson
- Jamie Overton
- Josh Tongue
Follow Wisden for all England vs India updates, including live scores, latest news, team lineups, schedule and more. The live streaming details for the ENG vs IND series in India, UK, USA and rest of the world can be found here. For Wisden quizzes, head here.
