Fifth Test preview: England v India

England

Cricket365
August 14, 2014

And so, we come to the end of what has been an intriguing, controversy-filled, and roller coaster Test series, with the fifth and final match to be played at The Oval in London, and England safe from a series defeat.

After winning the third and fourth matches to go two-one up, England are only at risk of a series draw. The last time they played here, in the Ashes last year, the game ended in a controversial late afternoon stalemate.

The players will hope there's no such repeat this time, and that common sense prevails if the light fades, as Alastair Cook's men seek to continue their 'new era' rebuild after the winter from hell.

England's only injury concern is for fast bowler Stuart Broad, after they named an unchanged squad for this Test. The paceman was struck in the face by a Varun Aaron bouncer in Manchester which broke his nose, but he is expected to be good to go.

India, on the other hand, have some decisions to make. Paceman Ishant Sharma is apparently recovered from his mysterious leg injury and could return, which will be welcome news for an attack that has failed to fire.

If Ishant returns, then Pankaj Singh could find himself jettisoned. Ravi Jadeja is also in danger of being dropped, with Stuart Binny and Ravi Ashwin getting a lot of time in the nets ahead of the game.

Overall, this game holds much interest as Alastair Cook still seeks his first century in over a year, James Anderson aims to improve his record here, and England's young players continue to impress.

Key Men For the hosts, their best batsmen from the last time out, Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen, are not in the picture, so Joe Root will be the man to watch. He's been in good form this summer, with at least a half ton in each game of this series.

India will need their top order to fire at last, after a poor series for everyone aside from Murali Vijay, and he will once again need to get the knocks off to a good start, especially if Gautam Gambhir keeps his place.

Last Five Head-To-Head Results 2014: Fourth Test: England won by an innings and 54 runs in Manchester 2014: Third Test: England won by 266 runs in Southampton 2014: Second Test: India won by 95 runs at Lord's 2014: First Test: Match drawn in Nottingham 2012: Fourth Test: Match drawn in Nagpur

Squads England: Sam Robson, Alastair Cook, Gary Ballance, Moeen Ali, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Steve Finn, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Chris Jordan, Chris Woakes

India: Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Stuart Binny, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Varun Aaron, Gautam Gambhir, Ravi Ashwin, Ishwar Pandey, Pankaj Singh, Wriddhiman Saha

Dates: 15-19 August Morning session: 11:00-13:00 (10:00-12:00 GMT) Afternoon session: 13:40-15:40 (14:40-16:40 GMT) Evening session: 16:00-18:00 (15:00-17:00 GMT) On-field umpires: Kumar Dharmasena and Paul Reiffel Third umpire: To be confirmed Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle

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