India vs England | India’s Predicted XI for the fifth Test in Oval

India vs England | India’s Predicted XI for the fifth Test in Oval

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BCCI

A Test that was supposed to be a dead-rubber has suddenly got a lot of significance attached to it for two completely different reasons. While Alastair Cook’s retirement will make the Test an emotional affair for cricket fans, India will try to salvage some pride and make the five-match series 2-3.

Openers:

KL Rahul: A total of 113 runs from eight innings doesn’t paint a picture of how good a batsman KL Rahul is in the longest format of the game. A gifted superstar in the making finds himself in a mess due to that weird feet movement against the swinging deliveries and to save himself from the wrath of the selectors, Rahul needs to play at least a good innings at Oval.

Shikhar Dhawan: One question that keeps coming back to my head for a long time is why has Shikhar Dhawan being persisted with despite repeated failure in English conditions. He brought in a small tactical change by batting too deep in the crease in the Nottingham Test but failed to emulate the same in Southampton to spell the death kneel again. It is too unlikely India would drop him for this Test, but with a young Prithvi Shaw waiting in the wings, he'd better score some runs now.

Middle-order:

Cheteshwar Pujara: After playing an integral role in India's win at Trent Bridge with a half-century in the second innings, Pujara was the lone warrior in the fourth Test and scored a brilliantly-crafted century. He brought all his strengths to the fore to push a resurgent England bowling attack back and India need him to do an encore at the Oval this match.

Virat Kohli: The man is head and shoulder above anyone in the series. His 544 runs in the series are not only highest in the series with a daylight galore difference to the second highest run scorer in the series. The Indian skipper needs 59 more runs to go past Rahul Dravid (602 runs in 2002) for the highest series aggregate for an Indian player in England and this, in some way, mirrors other Indian batsmen's failure to cope with the conditions.

Ajinkya Rahane: The Indian vice-captain’s resolute second-innings half-century was one of the few highlights of the Indian batting in the Southampton defeat and the team needs him more at Oval so as to salvage some pride and save themselves from the blushes of a 4-1 series defeat. He has been one of India's best overseas batsmen and the hope is backed up by numbers and ability.

Hanuma Vihari: Who is this man? Why is suddenly so much of a hype? For starters, the Andhra cricketer has the world's best first-class average of 59.45 (Minimum of 50 innings) among all contemporary cricketers. In his most recent first-class game against South Africa A in Bengaluru, he struck a match-winning innings of 148 runs and may well replace Hardik Pandya today.

Rishabh Pant: After a decent outing in the third Test, Pant was not close to his standards in the fourth Test and got out for an unnatural 27-ball duck in the first innings. He was really lackadaisical behind the stumps and needs to pull up his socks to stake his claim for the Windies series ahead.

Spinner:

Ravindra Jadeja: R Ashwin was one of the major disappointment in Southampton, failing to land the ball consistently in the footmarks. Also, there have been doubts over his fitness as it is not sure if Ashwin had fully recovered from the hip injury he picked during the third Test at Trent Bridge. That may prove to be blessing in disguise for the Saurashtra all-rounder.

Pacers:

Ishant Sharma: The Delhi pacer led the Indian pace battery really well and was one of the factors India managed to win the Trent Bridge Test convincingly. However, he needs to be more disciplined in his follow through as it was the main reason the footmarks were created for Moeen Ali to explore.

Mohammed Shami: The pacer has blown hot and cold in this series. While he looked convincing at one match, he failed to replicate the same in the next. Consistency is not something you associate with Shami, but now, for India to save some pride, he needs to step up now.

Jasprit Bumrah: Terrific! One of the bowlers who kept India in the hunt for the series win with his brilliant bowling. Considering the Oval is going to produce a flat batting deck for the Test, he will have to be at his lethal best and can’t afford to make so many mistakes today.

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