New Delhi: India lost both their openers in a tricky morning session on Day 1 of the fifth and final Test at the Oval, London. Yashasvi Jaiswal’s up-and-down series continued after Gus Atkinson, making his first appearance in the series, gave the hosts a perfect start with the new ball, while KL Rahul failed to ride on the momentum of his superb knock in Manchester, and, despite getting set on the crease, was dismissed in familiar fashion. However, India would consider themelves in a decent position, finishing 72 for 2 in 23 overs in very, very bowler-friendly conditions.
This after Shubman Gill remarkably lost his fifth toss on the trot as stand-in skipper Ollie Pope invited India to bat under overcast skies. Trailing 1-2 in the series after a sensational draw in Manchester, India made four changes to their playing XI, picking Dhruv Jurel, Karun Nair, Akash Deep and Prasidh Krishna in place of injured Rishabh Pant, Shardul Thakur, Anshul Kamboj and Jasprit Bumrah.
Meanwhile, England are playing without regular skipper Ben Stokes, who missed out due to a shoulder niggle.
The task of batting first was always going to be difficult for any side due to the moisture on the pitch created by overnight rain. The extremely overcast conditions made the task doubly difficult.
Jaiswal looked out of sorts right from the get-go, and his misery was ended by Atkinson, who trapped the left-handed opener in front of the wicket on 2.
Veteran pacer Woakes then reduced India to 38 for 2 by cleaning up Rahul (14 off 40 balls), who chopped one onto the stumps after trying to cut a ball that was not there to cut.
But Sudharsan and Gill steadied the innings by scoring an unbeaten 25 and 15 respectively and stitched an unbroken 34-run stand for the third wicket before heavy rain sent the players scurrying back to the dressing room on the stroke of Lunch.