2 weeks ago
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Who: England vs India
What: Fifth and last Test of India tour
Where: The Oval successful London, United Kingdom
When: Thursday, July 31
England and India caput to the Oval for the decisive 5th and last Test of a hard-fought run connected Thursday, with some teams battling intelligence and carnal fatigue.
A congested docket of 5 Tests successful little than 7 weeks has proved gruelling, particularly for the accelerated bowlers from some teams, with each lucifer going the region truthful far.
The bid has taken its toll connected a fig of players, including crucially England captain, Ben Stokes, who has been ruled retired of the match.
Al Jazeera Sport takes a look astatine a Test that has plentifulness bubbling implicit some connected and disconnected the field.
What is astatine involvement successful the last Test of India’s circuit of England?
Remarkably, India tin inactive extremity the bid each quadrate astatine 2-2 aft salvaging an improbable draw successful the 4th Test astatine Old Trafford.
The tourists kept the hosts connected the tract for 143 overs successful their 2nd innings, contempt the gully being inevitable successful the end, arsenic Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar secured centuries.
Why has the England-India bid been truthful tense?
Tensions spiked astatine the extremity of the 4th Test erstwhile India allowed Jadeja and Sundar to implicit their centuries aft England skipper Ben Stokes offered to shingle hands connected a draw.
There was besides a finger-pointing incident during the 3rd Test astatine Lord’s successful London, erstwhile England opener Zak Crawley irked the Indians, who believed helium was time-wasting astatine the extremity of the 3rd day.
Crawley and opening spouse Ben Duckett had a tricky two-over spell to navigate earlier stumps, but the erstwhile stood distant from his crease connected 4th occasions successful the opening implicit earlier Jasprit Bumbrah could bowl.
The Kent batter besides called for the physio, resulting successful lone 1 implicit being bowled earlier the adjacent and India skipper Shubman Gill confronting Crawley astir his actions.
Shubman Gill of India interacts with Zak Crawley of England successful the last implicit of the time during Day Three of the 3rd Test astatine Lord’s Cricket Ground [Alex Davidson/Getty Images]What happened betwixt Gambhir and the Surrey groundsman astatine the Oval?
As if the bid wasn’t already enduring heightened emotions, India manager Gautim Gambhir was embroiled successful an incidental with the caput groundsman astatine the Oval.
Video footage showed Gambhir successful a confrontation with Lee Fortis, Surrey County Cricket Club’s pb curator astatine the Oval successful southbound London.
Fortis was understood to person been keeping a protective oculus connected the quadrate during India’s grooming session.
Gambhir, a 58-Test veteran, was seen wagging his digit arsenic Fortis looked on, stating, “You can’t archer america what to do” and “You don’t archer immoderate of america what to do.”
Gambhir could besides beryllium heard adding, “You’re conscionable the groundsman, thing beyond.”
After walking distant successful speech with India batting manager Sitanshu Kotak, who appeared to instrumentality connected the relation of mediator, Fortis told Gambhir helium whitethorn beryllium forced to lodge a ailment against him, drafting a effect of, “You tin spell and study to whoever you want.”
Oval caput groundsman Lee Fortis, right, with England and Surrey’s Gus Atkinson, who is successful contention for a commencement astatine his location crushed [Ben Whitley/PA Images via Getty Images]Kotak aboriginal told reporters that Fortis’s objections to a cooler being wheeled onto the quadrate kicked disconnected the spat.
“He was sitting connected the roller, helium shouted and told the enactment unit not to instrumentality it there,” Kotak said. “It is bully to beryllium a small possessive, and it is besides bully to beryllium protective, but not that much. Gautam conscionable said, ‘Do not speech to the enactment unit similar this.'”
Kotak added, “At the extremity of the day, it is simply a cricket pitch. It is not an antique wherever you can’t touch.”
Gill added, “What happened yesterday, I thought, is conscionable perfectly unnecessary. I mean, it’s not the archetypal clip that we were having a look astatine the wicket.”
How has Gill been rated arsenic India captain?
Captaincy appears to beryllium doing wonders for the vocation of antecedently inconsistent India batsman Shubman Gill.
The elegant 25-year-old scored his 4th period of an bonzer debut bid arsenic skipper astatine Old Trafford.
He came successful with the tourists successful dire straits astatine 0-2 successful their 2nd innings, responding with a marathon 103 successful 238 balls that laid the foundations for a large escape.
Gill has acceptable a caller grounds for the astir runs scored by an India batsman successful a bid against England of 722, surpassing teammate Yashasvi Jaiswal’s tally of 712 successful 2023/24.
At the Oval, helium could eclipse Sunil Gavaskar’s all-time India bid grounds of 774 runs, acceptable successful a four-match run against the West Indies successful 1971.
England skipper Ben Stokes with manager Brendon McCullum during a nett league [Gareth Copley/Getty Images]England squad news
England skipper Stokes has been ruled retired of the Test with a close enarthrosis injury.
Ollie Pope, who bats astatine three, volition regenerate Stokes arsenic skipper, the England and Wales Cricket Board said connected Wednesday.
Stokes said helium expects to beryllium sidelined for up to 7 weeks, which should successful nary mode interaction his information successful this winter’s Ashes bid successful Australia. But helium felt it was intelligibly excessively risky playing 1 much Test against India.
“It is 1 of those of weighing up the risk-reward, and the hazard was mode excessively precocious for damaging this immoderate further than it presently is,” helium said. “I wouldn’t expect to enactment immoderate of my players astatine hazard with an wounded similar this. Once this bid is done, I was feet up anyhow [so] it doesn’t truly marque excessively overmuch quality to what I’ve got from the extremity of the bid up until the winter.”
England indispensable besides determine whether to hazard explicit paceman Jofra Archer, who has bowled astir 90 overs successful 2 Tests aft much than 4 years of injury-enforced exile.
The location squad took conscionable 4 wickets connected a level Old Trafford transportation during India’s battling 2nd innings, with seamer Brydon Carse besides worked hard.
Jamie Overton has been added to an England squad that already has other gait options successful Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson.
India squad news
India volition beryllium without vice-captain and prolific runscorer Rishabh Pant, who sustained a ft fracture successful Manchester.
Jasprit Bumrah’s backmost wounded earlier this twelvemonth prompted India to denote the accelerated bowler would lone diagnostic successful 3 games during the existent series.
The world’s top-ranked Test bowler made his 3rd quality connected a docile transportation successful Manchester and has small clip to retrieve aft bowling a gruelling 33 overs, during which helium took 2 wickets.
But India manager Gautam Gambhir says each of his squad’s quicks are acceptable for the finale, including Akash Deep, who took 10 wickets successful Bumrah’s lack during India’s 336-run triumph successful the 2nd Test astatine Edgbaston earlier suffering a groin wounded successful the adjacent lucifer astatine Lord’s.
The Oval curator breaks silence!
• Lee Fortis, The Oval's main curator, speaks out
• Opens up connected fiery speech with Gautam Gambhir
• What triggered the confrontation?
Reports 📽️ @Sahil_Malhotra1 🏏
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