5th Test: Hanuma Vihari Makes India Debut, England Elected To Bat First At The Oval

Young batsman Hanuma Vihari became the 292nd player to represent India. The 24-year-old received his India cap from skipper Virat Kohli ahead of the fifth and final Test against England at The Oval, London on Friday.

Vihari and Prithvi Shaw were drafted into the team after the third Test. But both the youngsters were not utilised in the fourth match. And speculations were rife that Shaw would get the chance in the final match.

But, as it turned out, the team management has preferred Vihari instead. He replaced Hardik Pandya in the playing XI. By the way, the Andhra cricketer is one of the most consistent batsmen in domestic competitions.

The right-handed batsman has scored 5142 runs at an average of 59.79 in 63 First-Class matches. He has 15 centuries, with a highest score of 302 not out.

Meanwhile, England captain Joe Root won the toss and elected to bat first.

India already lost the five-match series after defeats at Edgbaston, Birmingham by 31 runs and at Lord's, London by an innings and 159 runs and at Rose Bowl, Southampton by 60 runs.

India did win the third match at Trent Bridge, Nottingham by 203 runs to keep the series alive. But the defeat at Rose Bowl left India ruing their missed chances.

Now, it's a fight for pride for India. And, there's also a matter of ending the series on a high.

A win in London will make the score line 2-3. It will not look that bad considering the India rather underwhelming away records. So, it's still a fight worth fighting for India. Remember, India lost 1-2 to South Africa earlier in the year.

But, England will do everything to win the series finale, which will be Alastair Cook's farewell match.

Teams:

India: Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah
England: Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Moeen Ali, Joe Root(c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, James Anderson