England vs India, 5th Test: Preview
The Fifth Test between England and India will be played at Kennington Oval Cricket Ground in London. After already having lost the series, the Indian team will look to regain some momentum ahead of the upcoming tours and a whole number of changes are expected.
Meanwhile, England will look to dominate further and win the final Test for the retiring Alastair Cook. Cook is one of the greatest openers that the game has seen and is also the highest run-getter for England.
This sudden retirement has also put some question marks on England's preparation for the Ashes, which is to be held next year. Apart from this, the last match is expected to be a close one with both teams wanting to secure victory for very different reasons.
Pitch: The match will be played at Kennington Oval in London. The pitch is expected to be pacer friendly and likely to offer some spin at later stages of the game.
Head-to-Head: India has won only one game at the venue and has played out 7 draws. Meanwhile, England has won 4 matches at this venue and the last two games played here were also won by them.
Teams:
England- No changes are expected from the English side. Also, this will be Cook's last match in an England shirt and the side will want to send him out on a high note.
Playing XI:- Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Joe Root (C), Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler(WK), Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, James Anderson, Sam Curran, Stuart Broad
India- Prithvi Shaw is likely to replace under-performing KL.Rahul. Ashwin is also likely to be dropped but no major changes in middle-order and pace bowling department are expected.
Playing XI:- Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma