England captain Ben Stokes out of fifth India Test: What his absence means, expected injury timeframe

New York Times

30-07-2025

England must attempt to clinch a series victory against India without their captain after Ben Stokes was ruled out of the final Test with a serious shoulder injury.
Stokes, 34, will miss Thursday's fifth and final game at the Oval after the shoulder problem he suffered while bowling in the fourth Test at Old Trafford was diagnosed as a grade three tear that will keep him out for between six and 10 weeks.
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The England captain remains confident he will be fit to lead his side in Australia this winter, where the first Ashes Test begins in Perth on November 21 but for now, his side must tackle India without the man who has been at his all-round best throughout the series.
'We took as long as we could to take the decision,' said Stokes at the Oval on the eve of the final Test of a series led 2-1 by England. 'There was a bit of emotion that comes into this kind of stuff when you find out what you've done.
'I came here this morning seeing if I could play as a specialist batter but it's about weighing up the risk-reward and the risk was too high for damaging this any further. I wouldn't expect to put any of my players at risk with an injury like this.
'I'll start rehabbing now and focus on what we've got coming up this winter. It helps that we've got a really good squad and we will put a team out there we think can win this Test.'
That England team is much changed at the end of a gruelling series which has seen each of the four Tests go to the final session of the final day and has left both sides injury-hit and exhausted.
Jofra Archer misses out after playing two Tests in a row following an absence of four and a half years from first-class cricket, while Brydon Carse is also rested after playing in all four Tests.
There is also no place for left-arm spinner Liam Dawson, who took just one wicket on his return to the side at Old Trafford after an eight-year absence and misses out now because England want four seamers in Stokes' absence on a green-looking Oval pitch.
Gus Atkinson finally returns after injuring his hamstring in the first Test of the summer against Zimbabwe, while Josh Tongue is back for the first time since the second Test at Edgbaston and Jamie Overton comes in for only his second Test. Only Chris Woakes remains from England's fourth Test attack.
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There is also a Test debut for talented batter Jacob Bethell, who will bat at six in Stokes' place and also can provide left-arm spin to augment a new-look seam attack.
Stokes will remain with the side to support his deputy Ollie Pope, who takes charge of the side.
It is a desperate blow for England to be without Stokes at the Oval because he has been at the absolute peak of his form both with the ball, where he has become the leading wicket-taker in the series, and also now with the bat after scoring a hundred at Old Trafford.
The England captain is simply irreplaceable but he is absolutely right to miss out now and rest a body that has endured surgery on both his knee and hamstring in recent years because England's chances in the Ashes this winter are so dependent on him.
There are still 14 weeks to go before the first Test against Australia in Perth so Stokes, who expects six or seven weeks of rehab, really should be fine for that but his fitness will once again dominate the build-up to the biggest series of them all.
For now, a patched-up England will take on a bristling India side with a new-look attack and a debutant batter in Bethell, who has yet to make a century in professional cricket.
Only Woakes remains as England believe he will be their best chance of gaining swing and seam movement with the new ball on a green-looking Oval pitch, which has seen the last 20 captains winning the toss in first-class cricket decide to bowl first.
The look of a surface prepared by groundsman Lee Fortis, who clashed with India coach Gautam Gambhir on Tuesday partly over the amount of grass on it, has convinced England to go in without a specialist spinner, as Surrey have done this season here.
But Dawson may well have bowled himself out of his unexpected chance to go to Australia for the Ashes with his performance at Old Trafford, which saw him go wicketless in 47 second-innings overs on a last-day pitch. Injured off-spinner Shoaib Bashir had his best week as an England player without even playing.