Last Updated on 2 months by Charbel Coorey
England fans are unimpressed with the bowling attack picked for the fifth and final Test against India at The Oval. With Liam Dawson dropped, and Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse rested, England have selected a seam attack of Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton and Josh Tongue.
Also, in a huge blow, Ben Stokes, arguably player of the series to date, has been ruled out with a grade three muscle tear in his shoulder. Jacob Bethell has been selected in Stokes’ place and is the main spin option.
Ollie Pope will lead the team.
England XI for the 5th Test against India: 1. Zak Crawley, 2. Ben Duckett, 3. Ollie Pope (c), 4. Joe Root, 5. Harry Brook, 6. Jacob Bethell, 7. Jamie Smith (wk), 8. Chris Woakes, 9. Gus Atkinson, 10. Jamie Overton, 11. Josh Tongue
England fans share views on bowling attack for 5th Test against India at The Oval
England’s four-pronged pace attack has its flaws on paper. Chris Woakes has had a big workload and averages 52.80 runs per wicket in the four Tests to date. Josh Tongue struggled for control and consistency earlier in the series, while Jamie Overton has taken two wickets for 267 runs in the last two seasons of the County Championship.
Gus Atkinson is capable of leading the attack well, but this is his first Test since the one-off match against Zimbabwe in May. Atkinson, who suffered a hamstring injury, returned to action for Surrey’s 2nd XI last week, where he took combined figures of 3/93 in 30 overs across both innings.
India have their concerns with Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah unavailable for the fifth Test, but their batsmen can cash in if England’s bowlers aren’t on their game. That is the view of some England fans, with particular spotlight on why Matthew Potts wasn’t selected plus what the strategy is after moving James Anderson on.
“Maybe James Anderson actually is past it, one thing I think it’s worth noting is we’ll now never know, but we do know that absolutely none of the supposed benefits of showing him the door have happened,” one fan wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Here are some of the reactions to England’s selections for the final Test of the series.
England need only a draw to win the 2025 Anderson Tendulkar Trophy. India will likely bring in Akash Deep and Arshdeep Singh in the quest to square the series after an excellent effort to save the Old Trafford Test a few days ago.
