England and India head to the Oval for the decisive fifth and final Test of a hard-fought campaign on Thursday, with both teams battling mental and physical fatigue.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
A congested schedule of five Tests in less than seven weeks has proved gruelling, especially for the fast bowlers from both teams, with every match going the distance so far.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
AFP Sport looks at the key talking points ahead of the fifth Test in London.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
India weigh up Bumrah decision<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n 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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n 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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n 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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n 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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n 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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Jamie Overton has been added to an England squad that already has extra pace options in Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson.<\/p>\r\n\r\n England may need to rein in Stokes<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n Can England stop skipper Ben Stokes from bowling himself into the ground at the Oval?<\/p>\r\n\r\n 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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n 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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Yet in Manchester he was in evident pain, often clutching his thigh as well as nursing a bicep injury.<\/p>\r\n\r\n With the skipper central to England's hopes of regaining the Ashes on their upcoming tour of Australia, concerns remain over his workload.<\/p>\r\n\r\n "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."<\/p>\r\n\r\n Remarkable Gill eyes another record<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n Captaincy appears to be doing wonders for the career of previously inconsistent India batsman Shubman Gill.<\/p>\r\n\r\n The elegant 25-year-old scored his fourth century of an extraordinary debut series as skipper at Old Trafford.<\/p>\r\n\r\n 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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n 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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n 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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n One downside for Gill is that he will be without vice-captain and prolific runscorer Rishabh Pant, who sustained a foot fracture in Manchester.<\/p>\r\n",
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