Kolkata: There will be no Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes or Rishabh Pant, and possibly no Jasprit Bumrah either when India and England square up at the Oval for the final Test of one of the most riveting series in recent times.
England lead 2-1 but the absence of Stokes, who was extraordinary, and Archer might severely affect their chances of winning the series. India captain Shubman Gill didn’t commit when asked about Bumrah’s availability, but the visitors still have enough quality to level the series.
It has been that kind of tour where batters have excelled at the expense of fast bowlers. A record 1,566.3 overs have been bowled in this series, 1105.2 of them by pacers, making it the second time since 2005 when fast bowlers have had to endure this kind of workload.
The three-day gap after the Old Trafford Test thus proved too short a turnaround, which Stokes pointed out on Wednesday. “I guess you can look back on a five-game series, and could the gaps between games be a little better?” he said at the pre-match news conference. “You’ve had two eight and nine-day turnarounds and two three-days. Maybe you could look at making it all five for every game so there’s consistency.”
Not continuing with Archer, who played the Lord’s and Manchester Tests on his comeback after more than four years, was always on the cards. Stokes wanted to soldier on, even though he was in visible pain holding his right shoulder after bowling every delivery at Old Trafford.
The situation has since changed as Stokes, the leading wicket-taker on either side with 17 wickets, has been diagnosed with a Grade 3 muscle tear around his right shoulder. “I am disappointed to not be able to finish the series,” said Stokes, who bowled 140 overs in four Tests, his highest in a series. “I have got a decent tear of one of the (shoulder) muscles I can’t pronounce, I don’t know how to say it, but we took as long as we could to make that decision around that.”
Ollie Pope will now lead the side with England forced to make four changes overall in the eleven. Spin bowling allrounder Jacob Bethell, Josh Tongue and the Surrey pair of Gus Atkinson and Jamie Overton have been named with Archer and Brydon Carse rested. Left-arm spinner Liam Dawson, who was largely ineffective at Old Trafford, wasn’t included as well.
If Bumrah doesn’t play, Mohammed Siraj is once again expected to lead the attack with Akash Deep returning to the side after recovering from a groin problem. There could be a toss-up between Prasidh Krishna and left-armer Arshdeep Singh for the third pacer’s slot if India continue with Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja as bowling allrounders. Asked about Arshdeep, Gill said: “He is definitely being asked to get ready.”
Dhruv Jurel will finally get to play his first Test of the tour as part of the eleven after keeping for Rishabh Pant at Lord’s and Old Trafford. What remains to be seen is whether the thinktank would be bold enough to drop Shardul Thakur and include left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav for this must-win Test. However, Thakur’s first-innings 41 at Manchester might work in his favour as India have leaned towards being cautious, packing the side with eight batting options, one of the reasons Sundar has been allowed the time to flourish as an allrounder.
“Washington is someone who has given us so much control with the bowling,” said Gill. “His batting has been a really big plus for us. We are fortunate to have players like him in the team, who can prevent a collapse. With him we have improved in that area.”
The Oval has historically been good to batters, something Gill might want to exploit as he eyes the record of most runs by an Indian on a tour. With 722 runs, Gill is 52 short of Sunil Gavaskar’s 774 in the West Indies in 1970-71.
As first-time captain, this series has been a massive learning curve for Gill who has gone from scoring a double hundred and a hundred at Edgbaston to gritting out 103 after walking out at 0-2 in the second innings at Old Trafford. He has been provocateur as well as saviour, taking on the English at Lord’s for allegedly wasting time, and playing out time after spending 157.1 overs on the field. In the final Test, India would expect the same, if not more, from Gill as they attempt to square the series.