India to make one last push to square series against Stokes-less England in fifth Test starting today

Economic Times

4 days ago

The action on the field has been so intense and protracted in the four Tests that you would have thought any downtime would be a chance to be still, calm, regroup and return with energy topped up. But that's not how things panned out. India were fuming, led by Gautam Gambhir, who didn't warm to the Oval curator, Lee Fortis, to put it mildly. As with every story, there are two sides, but clearly India felt strongly enough at what they perceived to be discriminatory treatment that the issue has taken centre stage. At the heart of the matter is the pitch. Traditionally, the Oval is a batting beauty and this Test being played at the end of a warm summer means there's some hard work ahead for the bowlers. If India are aggrieved enough to carry that feeling into the game, and channel it into motivation, even determination, that would be no bad thing. But, if they allow an 'us against the world' mentality to fester, they could take their eyes off the real prize. A 2-2 result would be a good one for a team that arrived on English shores with a new captain, legends freshly retired and an inexperienced fast bowling attack led by Jasprit Bumrah, whose mind was on workload mana g ement as much as on opposition wickets.
You can' t blame Bumrah in the slightest: he's not actually choosing to rest; rather he is eking out every last bit of physical energy from his body and trying to maximise its efficacy in the team's cause.That said, India will miss Bumrah sorely, even if this gives Akash Deep, who missed the last Test with a niggle, a chance to build on the huge strides he has made in his nascent career. Deep has proven that he has what it takes. Now it's time to reinforce the faith the management has in him by turning potential into performance. India will be tempted to bring Kuldeep Yadav into the mix, but, with Rishab Pant out of action, they will want to shore up the batting. Dhruv Jurel has been excellent behind the stumps and in front, in the limited opportunities he has got, but India will take inspiration from earlier in the series when they picked what everyone believed was a defensive team and pulled off a stunning win. For once , England's selection issues are bigger than India's. Ben Stokes has been ruled out with what is believed to be a muscle tear in the shoulder, though he didn't confirm the exact nature of his injury on match eve. 'The risk was way too high for damaging this any further than it currently is,' Stokes said. 'It's obviously very, very disappointing. It was risk reward. I'll always try to push myself as much as I possibly can. Being a professional sportsman, injuries are part of this game and I can't do anything about that.' Stokes's injury left England with plenty of tinkering to do. They made four changes to the team that was stonewalled by India in Manchester with Jacob Bethell, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton and Josh Tongue coming in. Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse were rested while Liam Dawson was left out with conventional wisdom suggesting that seamers had a better chance of success at the Oval. But, more than Stokes the player — who's been majestic with ball and bat — it's the leader who'll be missed. Ollie Pope will stand in, but the question is whether England can retain their essential character without their guiding light. As a stand-in, Pope will look to carry on what Stokes has set in place and his reaction and behaviour when the team is in a tight spot will be carefully watched. The final Test brings the curtain down on a long and defining series for India. Gambhir does not like to call this a team in transition — he sees it simply as the best team India can put on the park at the moment — but the fact of the matter is that this has been a steep learning curve. Just for that the experience was worth it. But, in the highpressure world of international cricket you are judged by results.
If India can make one final push and square the series, there is no doubt they will be the happier team at the end of the day. Hopefully, bat and ball will have the final say, and the grumpiness, tetchiness and ill feeling between two very good teams can end with a handshake and a feeling of genuine mutual respect.