Follow UsWhen India lost Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudharsan in consecutive deliveries on Day 4 of the Old Trafford Test, an innings defeat looked imminent for the visitors, who seemed destined to lose the game and thereby the series. However, an extraordinary batting effort from that point onwards saw India pull off a miracle and walk away with the draw. And so as we head to The Oval for the fifth Test, the series is still alive, as India can still tie it with a win.
Jasprit Bumrah is unlikely to play the fifth Test, but what other changes could we expect?
Arshdeep Singh would have debuted at Old Trafford if not for an untimely finger injury, but reports suggest that the left-armer is all set to play his first ever Test in two days’ time. Arshdeep will likely take the place of Anshul Kamboj, who had a debut to forget, scoring a duck while proving to be toothless with the ball in hand.
Now, who replaces Bumrah is the question, and that might be Akash Deep, who again looks to return after an injury. A groin injury kept him out of the fourth Test but it’s again being widely reported that the pacer is good to go. So he will come straight into the XI.
We know Dhruv Jurel will replace Rishabh Pant as well, but the biggest question is: will Kuldeep Yadav play? That still remains a big mystery, but with Shardul Thakur contributing runs in the first innings at Old Trafford, expect the Gambhir-led management, who are very keen on batting depth, to stick with Shardul and not give Kuldeep a game. Kuldeep batting at No.8 will lengthen the tail, and that’s something this current management are not fond of.
Yashsavi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (capt), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Shardul Thakur, Arshdeep Singh, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj