The fifth and final India Vs England Test match of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series has started at the Kennington Oval in London on Thursday and India have been asked to bat first.
Let's take a look at what happened on 31 July, which is related to India's tour of England 2025.
India Make Four Changes
India made four changes in their playing XI for the fifth and final Test match against England at The Oval. Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Shardul Thakur and Anshul Kamboj have been rested, and Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel and Karun Nair have been added in the playing XI for this match.
India Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj
Rain Devours Second Session
Rain forced an early lunch on Day 1 of the fifth Test match at the Kennington Oval on Thursday. And the second session started a little late. But only six overs were bowled in the second session. India lost the wicket of captain Shubman Gill in between those overs.
After that rain came again and forced the delay for the restart. Tea break was taken, and the third session was started with a delay. Now, 40 overs are expected to be bowled in the third session if the play is not stopped.
Gill Breaks Gavaskar's Record
Shubman Gill shattered the record of most runs by an Indian captain in a Test series, surpassing Sunil Gavaskar's record of 732 runs, which he made in the West Indies home series back in 1978-79.
As soon as Gill brought up his eleventh run in the first innings at the Oval, he broke the talismanic cricketer's record for the most runs by an Indian captain in a Test series. He made 21 runs off 35 balls before being run out.
Onus On Nair And Jurel
India have lost five wickets so far on Day 1 of the fifth Test match. Playing his first match of the series, Dhruv Jurel will be hopeful for a good start in England, whereas it's a do-or-die game for Karun Nair. Nair has failed to score a 50-plus score in three matches played so far, and he also has to justify his place in the team.
India are 123/5 after 41 overs and will be hopeful that these batters - Nair and Jurel remain unbeaten at the stumps.
