The last match of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy between England and India promises to be a classic one, with the series finely balanced at 2-1 in favor of the home team, England. Nevertheless, India does have the opportunity of keeping the trophy in their possession a fourth time as long as they win this decisive fifth Test match at the Kia Oval in London.
The game started off where England won the toss and decided to bowl on an overcast day, and it worked in their favour early. Fast bowler Pacer Gus Atkinson was fast on the stumps and ended the innings of Yashasvi Jaiswal with only a couple of runs on the scoreboard, putting the Indians in an adverse position. The conditions were adverse to the Indian top order, with the England bowlers making use of the swinging ball.
India brought in four new changes to the playing XI. Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Shardul Thakur, and Anshul Kamboj were replaced by Karun Nair, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, and Dhruv Jurel. It is noteworthy that Kuldeep Yadav and Arshdeep Singh had to stay on the bench, and they were waiting to get a chance.
The absence of the pace spearhead, Jasprit Bumrah, is a big blow to India, who has done so much in the series. But there is an opinion that this made the other bowlers of India gel since Bumrah looked exhausted in Manchester. The same goes for England, who will be missing their skipper Ben Stokes, who is injured. The tactical awareness and all-round contributions made by Stokes have been crucial to the England philosophy of the said brand of cricket, the so-called Bazball.
The series has proven to be a close tussle with all earlier Tests having arrived on to the fifth day with ebb and flow of momentum. With the tensions growing, tempers getting hot, the setting is just right to have a dramatic closure with two arch enemies. It is going to be high drama, high stakes as the summer of Test cricket comes to an end.
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