The China Mail - India's Bumrah out of Oval finale as England bowl in fifth Test

Bumrah's back injury earlier this year prompted India to announce the world's top-ranked Test bowler would only feature in three games during the current series.

Bumrah, 31, made his third appearance in last week's drawn third Test at Old Trafford, where he bowled a draining 33 overs, during which he took two wickets and conceded 100 runs for the first time in a Test innings.

And even with India needing to win in south London to end this five-match series all square at 2-2, the tourists have decided against deploying Bumrah in the decider.

A schedule of five Tests in just 44 days has taken its toll, with both sides making four changes to their teams.

Bumrah and fellow paceman Anshul Kamboj were replaced by the fit-again Akash Deep, who took 10 wickets in India's third-Test win at Edgbaston, and Prasidh Krishna.

Middle-order batsman Karun Nair came in for all-rounder Shardul Thakur and Dhruv Jurel took over as wicketkeeper after Rishabh Pant suffered a broken foot batting in Manchester.

Overcast skies and a green-tinged pitch encouraged Pope to field first on his Surrey home ground in conditions promising to favour fast bowlers as England won the toss for the fifth time in as many matches this series despite the change in captain.

"We're going to have a bowl first," said Pope at the toss. "There's a bit more grass in it this week, overcast conditions, it's a no brainer to bowl first."

Shubman Gill, who in his debut campaign as India captain, now needs just 53 more runs to surpass Sunil Gavaskar's all-time India series record of 774, said: "As long as we are winning the match I don't mind losing the toss... Our bowlers are very much ready. It looks a good wicket for the bowlers."

England had already named their team on Wednesday, with captain Ben Stokes - the series' leading wicket-taker -- ruled out following a shoulder injury suffered at Old Trafford, a match where he became just the fourth England cricketer to take five wickets and score a hundred in the same Test.

Spin-bowling all-rounder Jacob Bethell makes his first Test appearance of 2025, effectively as a replacement for Stokes.

Pacemen Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson and Jamie Overton all come into the team, with Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse rested.

Liam Dawson has been dropped, with England opting against deploying a specialist spinner.

Teams

England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (capt), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Smith (wkt), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton, Josh Tongue

India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (capt), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wkt), Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj

Umpires: Ahsan Raza (PAK), Kumar Dharmasena (SRI)

TV Umpire: Rod Tucker (AUS)

Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)

O.Yip--ThChM