London, July 31 (IANS) Dhruv Jurel, Karun Nair and Prasidh Krishna have been included in India’s playing eleven as England’s stand-in captain Ollie Pope won the toss and elected to bowl first in the fifth Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Test at The Oval on Thursday.

The game could be in for a delayed start as rain arrived after the toss and covers have come back on the pitch and playing square. England are currently leading the series 2-1 and are looking to win a five-match series for the first time since 2018, when they beat India 4-1. England will be captained by Ollie Pope after Ben Stokes was ruled out due to a right shoulder injury.

With Stokes going out, Jacob Bethell comes into the playing eleven. Fast bowling trio of Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton and Josh Tongue are also included in place of pacers Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse and left-arm spin bowling all-rounder Liam Dawson. Pope had no hesitation in bowling first after winning the toss due to the green pitch, damp conditions and a sky full of clouds.

“I think it was a no-brainer to bowl first with the conditions we have. We are 2-1 up but we will not be content with a 2-2 and want to make it 3-1. Lost a few men, the captain down, but Woakes is tracking nicely, and some fresh faces and a long batting order,” said Pope.

For India, Jurel comes in for injured Rishabh Pant, while Nair replaces Shardul Thakur, and Krishna is in for Jasprit Bumrah. Skipper Shubman Gill forgot to mention that seamer Akash Deep is also included in place of Anshul Kamboj, who made his Test debut in the previous game at Old Trafford, Manchester.

“Don’t mind losing the toss as long as we win the game. Was a bit confused yesterday about what to do, was a bit overcast but the wicket looks good, we’ll look to post good runs in the first innings. Should be a good pitch for the bowlers. We look to win every game. We have come close in every game and it is about the extra five or 10 per cent, so boys will be giving it their all,” said Gill.

Playing XIs

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

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

–IANS

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