There will be few necessary changes for The Oval Test if the visitors are to level the series
India were down in the dumps halfway through the fourth Test at Old Trafford as England batters piled on runs on a placid pitch making Shubman Gill the first Indian captain in 11 years to have conceded a 600-plus total in a Test innings.
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, their lead pacers, were also nursing niggles while debutant Anshul Kamboj was unable to generate pace whatsoever. What happened next was Test cricket’s drama at its best. Thanks to three massive hundreds from Gill, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar while dissing Ben Stokes’ demand to shake hands for a draw, India will have great confidence to carry into the fifth and final Test.
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However, they still have two major absences and two more changes that might be necessary into the must-win contest at the Oval.
It is an obvious choice going into the final Test as Jurel had kept wickets in both the third and fourth Tests when Pant suffered a finger injury at Lord’s and then suffered a fracture while batting in the first innings at Old Trafford. Pant’s absence in the batting order is a big blow for India as they will miss their disruptor-in-chief and the third highest run-scorer of the series. Besides his mercurial keeping skills, Jurel has made his case to be in the playing XI as a pure batter with three consecutive fifties in the practice games with India A.
It was expected that Bumrah would not be playing either the fourth or the fifth Test. With the series on the line, he played in Manchester. Even though he wasn’t the most effective in those conditions, Bumrah still bowled a back-breaking 33 overs in the first innings which is enough for the Indian medical team to rest him.
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Very much like in the second Test at Edgbaston, India will most likely bring in Akash Deep as Bumrah’s replacement. The inclusion of a fit yet ineffective Prasidh Krishna looks unlikely as opposed to an effective fast bowler like Deep who sat out of the fourth Test due to a niggle.
Arshdeep Singh has waited quite a while to make his Test debut and the Oval Test might be the best time to hand the left-arm pacer his Test cap. Arshdeep also has the experience of playing in the County Championship with Kent and has the ability to hit the deck hard, which will be essential on an expected flat track at The Oval. Kamboj was brought in for accuracy over pace for the fourth Test, but the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) man wasn’t upto the task. It won’t be a wild swing if India drop Kamboj for an experienced head like Arshdeep.
If there was one player who didn’t have a single noteworthy contribution, it’s Shardul Thakur. An excellent red-ball season in domestic cricket revived his international career, but his contributions in England haven’t been impressive. Just 37 overs in three innings as the team’s fourth pacer shows that he was mostly there to add batting depth to the team. Gambhir and Gill’s preference for more batters in the team is evident, but on a flat deck like The Oval, playing three spinners, two of which are all-rounders, might be a bright idea.
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