England and India fight fatigue as gripping Test series goes to the wire
Remarkably, India can still end the series all square at 2-2 after salvaging an unlikely draw in the fourth Test at Old Trafford, keeping the hosts on the field for 143 overs in their second innings.
Tensions spiked at the end of the game when India allowed Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar to complete their centuries after England captain Ben Stokes offered to shake hands on a draw, adding spice to the Oval Test.
AFP Sport looks at the key talking points ahead of the fifth Test in London.
India weigh up Bumrah decision
Jasprit Bumrah's back injury earlier this year prompted India to announce the fast bowler would only feature in three games during the current series.
The world's top-ranked Test bowler made his third appearance on a docile pitch in Manchester and has little time to recover after bowling a gruelling 33 overs, during which he took two wickets.
But India coach Gautam Gambhir says all of his squad's quicks are fit for the finale including Akash Deep, who took 10 wickets in Bumrah's absence during India's 336-run win in the second Test at Edgbaston before suffering a groin injury in the next match at Lord's.
England must decide whether to risk express paceman Jofra Archer, who has bowled nearly 90 overs in two Tests after more than four years of injury-enforced exile.
The home team took just four wickets on a flat Old Trafford pitch during India's battling second innings, with seamer Brydon Carse also worked hard.
Jamie Overton has been added to an England squad that already has extra pace options in Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson.
England may need to rein in Stokes
Can England stop skipper Ben Stokes from bowling himself into the ground at the Oval?
The Old Trafford match was a personal triumph for the all-rounder, who became just the fourth England cricketer to score a hundred and take five wickets in the same Test.
Stokes has now sent down 140 overs -- the most he has bowled in any series -- and is the leading wicket-taker on either side with 17 scalps.
Yet in Manchester he was in evident pain, often clutching his thigh as well as nursing a bicep injury.
With the skipper central to England's hopes of regaining the Ashes on their upcoming tour of Australia, concerns remain over his workload.
"Bowling, being in the field is tough work, so I am pretty sore," said Stokes after the fourth Test. "We are going in 2-1 up but we want to put that last big performance in."
Remarkable Gill eyes another record
Captaincy appears to be doing wonders for the career of previously inconsistent India batsman Shubman Gill.
The elegant 25-year-old scored his fourth century of an extraordinary debut series as skipper at Old Trafford.
He came in with the tourists in dire straits at 0-2 in their second innings, responding with a marathon 103 in 238 balls that laid the foundations for a great escape.
Gill has set a new record for the most runs scored by an India batsman in a series against England of 722, surpassing team-mate Yashasvi Jaiswal's tally of 712 in 2023/24.
At the Oval he could eclipse Sunil Gavaskar's all-time India series record of 774 runs, set in a four-match campaign against the West Indies in 1971.
One downside for Gill is that he will be without vice-captain and prolific runscorer Rishabh Pant, who sustained a foot fracture in Manchester.
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3 days ago
- France 24
England face searching Ashes questions after India series thriller
Their next major red-ball assignment is a five-match Ashes series away to arch-rivals Australia -- where England have gone 15 Tests without a win -- starting in November. Below AFP Sport looks at some of the key issues that emerged from England's rollercoaster contest with India and what they mean for their quest to regain the Ashes 'Down Under'. Stokes central to England's hopes What England gain from having Ben Stokes in their side was never more evident than when their inspirational captain missed the fifth Test with a shoulder injury -- a fresh worry following his history of hamstring trouble. The 34-year-old all-rounder was the most threatening member of England's attack against India, taking 17 wickets at 25 in 140 overs -- the most he has bowled in a series. Stokes also looked back to his best with the bat, scoring 141 in England's mammoth total of 669 in the drawn fourth Test at Old Trafford. By contrast specialist opener Zak Crawley failed to reach three figures in nine innings. And at the Oval, the sight of vice-captain Ollie Pope running off to the dressing room to receive what appeared to be tactical guidance from Stokes did not say much for England's depth of leadership. England limited-overs captain Harry Brook, also a mainstay of the Test team and a lively skipper in the Stokes mould, could yet prove a better fit as vice-captain against Australia. Fast-bowling plan under threat England have long believed a battery of genuinely fast bowlers is essential if they are to win an Ashes series in Australia for the first time since 2010/11. But fitness issues could blight their best-laid plans. Jofra Archer made an encouraging return to Test cricket against India but played just two matches as England looked to manage the express paceman's workload. Mark Wood, another bowler with genuine pace, has not played Test cricket for nearly 12 months and had knee surgery earlier this year. The inconsistent Josh Tongue's return of 19 wickets at under 30 in the India series could well see him selected for Ashes duty, with Gus Atkinson's five-wicket haul on his return to Test duty at the Oval doing his cause no harm. Spin dilemma England, and Stokes in particular, have shown huge faith in Shoaib Bashir, a 21-year-old off-spinner unable to hold down a regular place in a county side but who has now taken 68 wickets in 19 Tests at 39. In the India series, Bashir's 10 wickets came at an expensive average of 54.1, before a finger injury ruled him out of the last two Tests. But Hampshire stalwart Liam Dawson failed to seize his chance in the drawn fourth Test, with Stokes appearing to tell the left-armer where he should be bowling on the Old Trafford pitch. Leicestershire's 20-year-old leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed, already England's youngest Test cricketer, is another option. England, however, didn't bother with a specialist spinner at the Oval, deploying Joe Root and Jacob Bethell -- clean bowled following a reckless charge down the pitch during a second-innings collapse -- for a mere 11 overs combined. But former Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes England should stick with Bashir for the Ashes because of his similarity to outstanding Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon. "Australia will have probably three or four left-handers in their line-up which will aid the right-arm off-spinner as well," Ponting told Sky Sports. "And it's the over-spin that you need in Australia."
France 24
4 days ago
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Frustrated Stokes refuses to blame Brook for England collapse
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France 24
5 days ago
- France 24
Oval downpour leaves England-India series on knife edge
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