Having sealed the series 3-1, India will host England for the fifth and final Test beginning Thursday. Rohit Sharma and his men comfortably beat England by five wickets in the fourth Test to take an unassailable lead as well. After starting with a win in the opening Test, the visitors have been outplayed throughout the series. (Scorecard |IND Vs ENG Day 1 Blog | Streaming | Preview | Cricket News)
In the previous Test, England batted first, scoring 353/10 in their first innings. India, in reply, were bundled out for 307 as the visitors gained a slender lead. However, the hosts came back strong to skittle England out for just 145 and went on to chase down the target quite comfortably in the end.
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Young sensation and opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has been in staggering form for India and is also the leading run-scorer with 655 runs in this series. Shubman Gill has been impressive with 342 runs as well. Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, and Ravichandran Ashwin with 17 wickets apiece have been India's top guns with the ball.
As for England, Zak Crawley (328) and Ben Duckett (314) have been their prolific run-getters. Tom Hartley, with 20 wickets, is the leading wicket-taker in the series. He will aim to continue his scintillating form in the final match as well.
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India vs England Squads:
India:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Ravindra Jadeja, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Srikar Bharat, Devdutt Padikkal, Axar Patel, Mukesh Kumar
England:
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, Shoaib Bashir, James Anderson, Ollie Robinson, Daniel Lawrence, Gus Atkinson
As both teams gear up to battle it out for one final time this series, the fifth Test will commence on Thursday at the picturesque Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala. Here are three key player battles to watch out for:
1. Ravichandran Ashwin vs Ben Stokes:
England captain Ben Stokes hasn't been at his explosive best in this series. He failed to create an impact in the fourth Test as well and will be keen to contribute with the bat as his team looks to salvage pride. While Stokes likes to take on the bowlers, Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will fancy his chances of getting the better of Stokes. Ashwin has been in great form in this series, which sets it up for an interesting battle.
2. Joe Root vs Jasprit Bumrah
India's pace attack will be bolstered with the return of lead speedster Jasprit Bumrah. Joe Root historically has an outstanding record in India when it comes to Test match cricket. He scored a fabulous unbeaten 122 in the first innings of the last Test as well. However, if there is one bowler who can trouble Root early on, that is Bumrah.
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3. James Anderson vs Rohit Sharma
Indian captain Rohit Sharma came good in the second innings of the previous game, scoring a well-measured fifty. However, he struggled in the first innings and was dismissed by James Anderson quite cheaply. Rohit will want to perform well against the fast-bowling stalwart in the final Test.
