Kuldeep Yadav Ignored Again, Karun Nair Returns as India Make 4 Changes for Oval Test vs England
In a bold shake-up ahead of the fifth and final Test at The Oval, the Indian team management has once again overlooked left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav. The team has made four major changes to their playing XI as they aim to finish the England tour on a high.
The notable inclusion is batter Karun Nair, who returns to the side after being dropped for the Manchester Test. He replaces Shardul Thakur, while Prasidh Krishna is brought back into the pace attack in place of the rested Jasprit Bumrah, who has been given a break due to workload concerns.
With wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant ruled out due to a toe fracture, Dhruv Jurel has been named in the XI and will take over the gloves. The final change sees Akash Deep returning from an injury and replacing Anshul Kamboj, who made his debut in the previous Test but failed to impress.
India’s captain Shubman Gill, who lost his fifth consecutive toss of the series, said at the toss:
“Don’t mind losing the toss as long as we win the game. Was a bit confused yesterday about what to do, was a bit overcast but the wicket looks good. We’ll look to post good runs in the first innings. Should be a good pitch for the bowlers. We’ve got three changes. Jurel, Karun and Prasidh in for Pant, Shardul and Bumrah. We look for a win every game we play; it’s about that 5-10% extra push.”
On the other side, England are also entering the match with fresh adjustments. With Ben Stokes unavailable due to injury, Ollie Pope is leading the side. He opted to bowl first, citing the overcast conditions as a clear advantage.
“We’ll bowl. Bit overcast, no-brainer to have a bowl on this pitch. Lost the captain but the others are tracking nicely. We’re not going to contend with 2:2, we want to go out there and win it,” Pope said.
Playing XIs for the 5th Test at The Oval:
India:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, B Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (capt), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj
England:
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (capt), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton, Josh Tongue
With the series evenly poised and both teams fielding refreshed lineups, the final Test promises high drama and a potentially thrilling finish to what has been an intense and closely-fought series.
